Flavonoid diversity across six Ocimum accessions: UPLC-MS/MS metabolomics and RNA-seq reveal anticancer leads and...

Plant-specialized metabolites, particularly flavonoids, are vital sources of therapeutic agents, yet systematic profiling of their composition and pharmacological mechanisms remains limited in economically important genera like Ocimum-renowned for its culinary and medicinal value. This knowledge gap impedes the targeted development of Ocimum-based therapeutics. Here, we integrated UPLC-MS/MS-based flavonoid profiling, RNA-seq, and computational approaches across six accessions of three Ocimum species (O. × africanum, O. tenuiflorum, O. gratissimum). Differential accumulation patterns were analyzed via PCA, K-means clustering, and Venn analysis. Network pharmacology, molecular docking, and metabolic pathway mapping identified therapeutic targets and biosynthetic routes. We identified 525 flavonoid metabolites (predominantly flavones/flavonols), with 515 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) showing interspecific divergence. Three key anticancer metabolites-Laciniatin, 3',4',5',5,7-Pentamethoxyflavone, and Sinensetin-targeted core cancer proteins (PIK3R1, EGFR, IGF1R, GSK3B, SRC) and suppressed PI3K-Akt, MAPK, and Ras pathways. Molecular docking confirmed strong binding affinities, while transcriptomics revealed four differentially expressed biosynthetic genes correlated with Sinensetin accumulation. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that these ligand-protein complexes remained stable throughout the trajectories, with favorable binding free energies and consistent interaction profiles, further validating the docking results and supporting the predicted multi-target anticancer mechanisms. In the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell model, further biological validation demonstrated that the core metabolites, Sinensetin and 3',4',5',5,7-pentamethoxyflavone, exert their anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the SRC/EGFR signaling axis. This study establishes significant interspecific flavonoid diversity in Ocimum and demonstrates the multi-target anticancer potential of three key metabolites, directly addressing the limited mechanistic understanding of Ocimum phytochemistry. Our findings provide a foundation for metabolic engineering and accelerate the development of evidence-based Ocimum therapeutics for functional foods and nutraceuticals.