Evaluation of the Anticancer Properties of Lamellar Alkaloid Drivatives Extracted from the Tunicate Didemnum abradatum (Moucha Island Sea, Djibouti): Pharmacological and Computational Approach

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the anticancer activity of lamellar alkaloid derivatives extracted from the tunicate Didemnum abradatum from Moucha Island (Djibouti), focusing on their antiviability against human cell lines and using biocomputational analyses via the Integrated Biomolecular Profiling and Mechanism Evaluation (IBProME) method to understand their mechanisms of action. Two alkaloids were isolated, lamellarin D and lamellarin T, whose structures were confirmed by state-of-the-art analytical techniques. Cell viability tests were performed on PC3, A549 and JIMT-T1 cell lines, and IBProME analyses were used to predict their interactions with p53 protein and evaluate their toxicological and pharmacokinetic profiles. The results showed that lamellarin D was particularly effective against prostate and lung cancer cells, with respective IC50 values of 5.25 µg/mL and 8.64 µg/mL, close to those of doxorubicin. In contrast, lamellarin T showed less marked activity but remains promising. Computational analyses via IBProME highlighted differences in chemical reactivity between the two compounds, with lamellarin D being more reactive. Toxicity tests revealed that lamellarin D exhibited lower acute toxicity than lamellarin T. In terms of pharmacokinetic properties, both molecules showed low absorption and moderate bioavailability, although lamellarin T displayed more marked lipophilicity. These results suggest that lamellars, particularly lamellarin D, have therapeutic potential for the treatment of certain types of cancer.