Uncovering the antiproliferative potential of Lobophytum pauciflorum metabolites through chemoinformatics and in vitro approaches

Marine organisms such as soft corals represent a promising source of bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical development. However, studies on the antiproliferative activity of the Red Sea soft coral Lobophytum pauciflorum remain limited. This study aimed to investigate the chemical diversity of L. pauciflorum through a chemoinformatics approach combined with in vitro analyses. Chemical composition was characterized using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) for metabolite annotation. Anticancer activity was evaluated against eight human cancer cell lines, with the extract showing significant cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells, exhibiting IC₅₀ values of 9.46 and 11.59 µg/mL, respectively. These findings indicate that L. pauciflorum possesses anticancer potential, and isolated compounds from its methanolic extract warrant further evaluation.