Novel Insights in the Potential of Halogenated Polyketide–Peptide Molecules as Lead Compounds in Cancer Drug Discovery

In this interdisciplinary study, we selected two compounds, namely, smenamide A, a peptide–polyketide, and smenolactone D, a polyketide, as models because they are representative of two different classes of molecules isolated from the marine sponge Smenospongia aurea. The organic extract of Smenospongia aurea was analyzed using a combination of high-resolution LC-MS/MS and molecular networking, a recently developed method for automated LC-MS data analysis. The analyses were targeted to highlight clusters made by chlorinated compounds present in the extracts. Then, the two model compounds were analyzed for their bioactivity. Data reported here show that smenamide A did not exhibit a cytotoxic effect, while smenolactone D was cytotoxic on different tumor cell lines and was able to induce different types of cell death, including ferroptosis and apoptosis.