## 3 Results
### Natural Molecules
Furthermore, gene expression analysis of the ATR-AKT model has shown the induction of apoptosis in BC cell lines [35]. Another natural compound, eugenol, a phenylpropanol obtainable from honey and some essential oils with antioxidant and anticancer properties, has been tested with in silico and in vitro approaches [37]. In vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated that eugenol promotes the inhibition of \(\beta\)-catenin, a biomarker associated with the progression of cancer and the development of lymph node metastasis. \(\beta\)-catenin accumulation in the nucleus is evident in BC because of aberrant wnt signaling. Western blot analysis has confirmed a significant modification in the expression level of total \(\beta\)-catenin in in vivo and in vitro models. In addition, eugenol demonstrates a downregulation of the expression of cancer stem cell biomarkers. Docking studies have revealed many binding sites of the complex and the data support a good interaction between the ligand and the \(\beta\)-catenin protein (PDB ID: 3 BCT) [37]. Pharmacological research in recent years has also proposed the plant _Astragalus membranacaeus_ (AM) as a natural product for cancer treatment. A recent study using a multidisciplinary approach constituted by gene expression analysis, pharmacokinetic screening, biological network analysis, and in vitro approaches investigated the possible and novel mechanism of AM in TNBC [38]. All of the ingredients of AM were collected for a total of 87 compounds and 16 active components and _Astragalus polysaccharides_ (APS) was proposed as a potential compound against BC. Indeed, docking analysis showed good results between APS and the proteins AKT, BCL2, and PIKXG. Indeed, in vitro experiments confirmed that the compound can inhibit migration and invasion and can induce apoptosis [38]. Natural compounds can be also administrated to avoid the side effects of drugs. In a recent study, drug design methods were performed to investigate plant-derived inhibitors against sirtuin (SIRT) proteins [39]. As SIRT, which comprises seven human isoforms, is associated with the metastatic and oncogenic progression of advanced BC, its inhibition is a promising approach against tumorigenesis. A previous study considered 21 plant-derived inhibitors as ligands and the seven human isoforms of SIRT as targets [39], and molecular docking with the binding energies of the ligand-receptor complexes showed that sulforaphene, kaempfer, and apigenin can achieve the highest binding energies against SIRT1, 3, and 6, respectively. To validate these in silico results, they explored the role of these potential small molecules against BC cell lines on cellular viability using MTT assays [39]. Noscapine (NOS) is a phthalide isoquinoline alkaloid derived from the _Papaver somiferum_ plant. As several studies have reported the ability of NOS to inhibit the growth of tumor cells and to activate apoptosis, there are ongoing phase I/II clinical trials for cancer management, but not for BC [40]. [PERSON] et al. [41] studied the interaction between NOS and carrier protein HSA using different techniques, including in vitro approaches and computational methods. The cytotoxicity findings by MTT assay indicated that NOS has good potential in cancer. Meanwhile, the in silico results showed that the main binding site for NOS was site I (subdomain II A) of HSA [41]. Shikonin (SK), a phytochemical derived from the medicinal plant _Lithosperm erythromycinhorizon_, has been demonstrated to induce tumor immunogenicity [42]. However, the molecular mechanisms of action and the pharmacological processes are still unknown. First, in a recent study [43] the authors performed a computation prediction analysis, applying molecular docking and a virtual screening system. They screened 27,317 human protein structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank in order to search for the molecular targets of SK.