Friday Hope: Luteolin: Binding Prevention of the Spike Protein and Blocking Cancer Development

A flavonoid which not only prevents cell entry of the Spike Protein, but also inhibits its ability to induce cancer.

Luteolin is a common flavonoid abundantly present in several plant products, including broccoli, pepper, thyme, and celery. Studies have shown that luteolin possesses beneficial neuroprotective effects both in vitro and in vivo. It also has antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties.

The Role of Natural Products in the Prevention and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis
Nutrition and Lifestyle in Neurological Autoimmune Diseases, 2017

In addition to the above properties, Luteolin appears to have the ability to prevent cell entry of the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 by disrupting its RBD.

Our results have uncovered pronounced effects at the RBD/ACE2 interface upon ligand binding at a distal site. In particular, upon luteolin binding, RMSF and strain analysis unveil significant levels of fluctuations and strain in RBD regions away from the binding site. In addition, cross-correlational analysis reveals the disruption of anti-correlated motions between the luteolin binding site and the binding interface of RBD/ACE2. Future research will require investigating the possible binding motifs for luteolin and its effects on S protein binding to the ACE2 receptor. Beyond the finding that luteolin might serve to inhibit viral entry, the discovery of this distal binding site offers potential for the design and engineering of future therapeutics for COVID-19.

Molecular characterization of COVID-19 therapeutics: luteolin as an allosteric modulator of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/pdf/article/2022/me/d1me00119a

And this has been confirmed.

By employing a competitive binding assay in vitro, we found that luteolin significantly blocked the binding of S-protein RBD to ACE2 with IC50 values of 0.61 mM, which was confirmed by the neutralized infection with SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus in vivo.

Luteolin inhibits spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.7826

As readers of my Substack know, there is abundant evidence that the Spike Protein interferes with tumor suppressors p53 and BRAC. Luteolin has the ability to block the development of cancer by preventing malignant cells from dividing.

Luteolin is a flavonoid which is part of our daily nutrition in relatively low amounts (less than 1 mg/day). Nevertheless, some epidemiological studies suggest an inverse correlation between luteolin intake and the risk of some cancer types. Luteolin displays specific anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic effects, which can only partly be explained by its anti-oxidant and free radical scavenging capacities. Luteolin can delay or block the development of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo by protection from carcinogenic stimuli, by inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, by induction of cell cycle arrest and by induction of apoptosis via intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways.

Anti-carcinogenic Effects of the Flavonoid Luteolin
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6245397/

It appears that Luteolin has the ability to be a very powerful therapeutic against the Spike Protein. Not only by preventing its entry, but by also inhibiting its ability to induce cancer.