Cited by 7,713Ferroptosis and cancer prognosisCell death mechanisms and regulationIron Metabolism and Disorders

Regulation of Ferroptotic Cancer Cell Death by GPX4

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Yang, Wan Seok, SriRamaratnam, Rohitha, Welsch, Matthew E., Shimada, Kenichi, Skouta, Rachid, Viswanathan, Vasanthi S., Cheah, Jaime H., Clemons, Paul A. +7 more·2014·Cell

Abstract

Ferroptosis is a form of nonapoptotic cell death for which key regulators remain unknown. We sought a common mediator for the lethality of 12 ferroptosis-inducing small molecules. We used targeted metabolomic profiling to discover that depletion of glutathione causes inactivation of glutathione peroxidases (GPXs) in response to one class of compounds and a chemoproteomics strategy to discover that GPX4 is directly inhibited by a second class of compounds. GPX4 overexpression and knockdown modulated the lethality of 12 ferroptosis inducers, but not of 11 compounds with other lethal mechanisms. In addition, two representative ferroptosis inducers prevented tumor growth in xenograft mouse tumor models. Sensitivity profiling in 177 cancer cell lines revealed that diffuse large B cell lymphomas and renal cell carcinomas are particularly susceptible to GPX4-regulated ferroptosis. Thus, GPX4 is an essential regulator of ferroptotic cancer cell death.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2013.12.010

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  • GPX4 has emerged as the main endogenous inhibitor of ferroptosis by limiting lipid peroxidation through GSH-dependent reduction of lipid hydroperoxides to lipid alcohols.

    “the reduced glutathione (GSH)-dependent enzyme glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4)—which is directly targeted by RSL3—has emerged as the main endogenous inhibitor of ferroptosis by virtue of its ability to limit lipid peroxidation by catalyzing the GSH-dependent reduction of lipid hydroperoxides to lipid alcohols [547–550].”
  • Erastin triggers ferroptosis by indirectly affecting the catalytic cycle of GPX4 via inhibition of the cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc− and consequent decrease in intracellular cysteine and GSH.

    “erastin triggers ferroptosis by (indirectly) affecting the catalytic cycle of GPX4 via a mechanism that involves the inhibition of the cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc− and consequent decrease in intracellular cysteine (which derives from cystine reduction in the cytoplasm) and GSH (which is synthesized from cysteine) [539, 548, 549, 551].”
  • Iron depletion by chelators or PHKG2 knockdown inhibits ferroptosis.

    “the ferroptosis-inhibiting effect of iron depletion by either chelators [539, 543, 548] or phosphorylase kinase catalytic subunit gamma 2 (PHKG2) knockdown [566]”
  • Among overlapping genes, the authors identified known regulators of apoptosis (TP53, IKBIP), factors of neuronal survival (XIAP, GDPGP1, MAP3K1), and genes not previously implicated in neuronal survival (IGF2BP1, IGF2BP3).

    “Among these genes, we identified known regulators of apoptosis, such as TP53, IKBIP, and factors specifically of neuronal survival, such as XIAP17–20, GDPGP121 and MAP3K123,22–24, as well as genes not previously implicated in neuronal survival, such as IGF2BP1 and IGF2BP3.”
  • Inhibitors of the cystine/glutamate transporter xCT deplete intracellular glutathione in cancer cells, resulting in iron-dependent ROS accumulation and ferroptosis.

    “Inhibitors of this transporter have been found to deplete intracellular glutathione in cancer cells, resulting in iron-dependent accumulation of ROS and a form of cell death termed ferroptosis (Dixon et al., 2012; Dixon et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2014).”

    From Targeting Metabolism for Cancer Therapy (2017) · cites this paper as Yang et al., 2014

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Authors
Yang, W. S., SriRamaratnam, R., Welsch, M. E., Shimada, K., Skouta, R., Viswanathan, V. S., Cheah, J. H., Clemons, P. A., Shamji, A. F., Clish, C. B., Brown, L. M., Girotti, A. W., Cornish, V. W., Schreiber, S. L., & Stockwell, B. R.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University (US)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Medical College of Wisconsin (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Stockwell, Brent R.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-01
Volume
156
Issue
1-2
Pages
317-331
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2002490399
Cited by
7,713
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 1070 · 2025: 1226 · 2024: 1343 · 2023: 1164 · 2022: 1041 · 2021: 759 · 2020: 421 · 2019: 256 · 2018: 151 · 2017: 115 · 2016: 86 · 2015: 53 · 2014: 25 · 2012: 1
FWCI
74.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (CHE 0840451)
  • New York State Stem Cell Science (C026715)
  • Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation
  • Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health (R01CA161061, 5R01CA097061, 5R01GM085081, 1S10RR025431-01A1)
  • Broad Institute
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Cell death mechanisms and regulation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
Keywords
ferroptosis, GPX4, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione depletion, ferroptosis inducers, non-apoptotic cell death, cancer cell death, chemoproteomics, targeted metabolomics, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, renal cell carcinoma, tumor growth inhibition
MeSH terms
Phospholipid Hydroperoxide Glutathione Peroxidase, Animals, Carbolines, Carcinoma, Renal Cell, Glutathione, Glutathione Peroxidase, Humans, Neoplasm Transplantation, Neoplasms, Piperazines, Lymphoma, B-Cell, Cell Death, Cell Line, Tumor, Mice, Gene Knockdown Techniques, Heterografts

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