Candidate compounds were further validated by in-vitro assays in HCC cell lines, including proliferation, migration/invasion, apoptosis/ferroptosis-related readouts, and mechanistic validation.<h4>Results</h4>The optimized models enabled efficient screening of natural products and prioritized γ-linolenic acid (GLA) as a top candidate FABP5 inhibitor. This evidence concerns the gene FABP5 and hepatocellular carcinoma.