Executive Summary : | Female reproductive cancer (gynaecological cancer) is becoming a life threatning menace accounting for more than 25% of total cancer burden. The cause of mortality for most of the cancer patients is metastasis occurs by the spread of tumour cells to different organs through angiogenesis. Various approaches have been developed for the clinical use of anticancer drugs for the treatment of female reproductive cancer but the therapeutic regimen experiences significant drawbacks, including chemo-resistance, efficacy, and adverse effects. These off-target effects could be overcome by discovering novel plant peptides with defined molecular mechanism capable of discerning cancer cells from normal cells and revealing selectivity toward female reproductive cancer cells. Recent studies have proved that plant peptides are shown to kill cancer cells by necrosis or apoptosis via pore creation or membrane lysis. α-helical form of peptides particularly acts as molecularly targeted anticancer peptides that can easily penetrate and specifically attach to the cancer cell, elevate apoptosis, which could target cancer metastasis and angiogenesis. A neutral net charge on outer leaflet of healthy cell membrane leads to a non-interaction of peptides on the cell surface. In contrast, the presence of phosphatidylserine on the outer leaflet of the cancer cell membrane results in a negative net charge and could interact with the anticancer cationic peptides. The eukaryotic cell membrane possesses cholesterol to shield lytic activity by altering membrane fluidity. It has been discovered that cancer cells have higher membrane fluidity than healthy cells. Furthermore, healthy cells are electrically neutral, whereas cancer cells have a negatively charged component on their surface, which causes membrane destabilisation, cytotoxicity, and cell lysis when molecules like plant peptides interact with them. Furthermore, hydrophobic interactions are the key dynamic force for the contact between peptides and the healthy cell membrane, whereas electrostatic interactions are the primary driving force for interactions between peptides and the malignant cell membrane. This electrostatic interaction inhibits cell division or DNA synthesis, preventing cell migration and angiogenesis, and thus promoting cancer cell apoptosis. Considering the importance of plant peptides in targeting migration and angiogenesis in cancer, we have identified some of the plant peptides (such as Parigidin-Br1, Cycloviolacin O4, Vila A, Vitri A, and Varv D) which are stable and cell membrane permeable and can be a prospective candidate for the treatment of female reproductive cancer. |