Molecular Mechanisms of Ferroptosis and Its Role in Pulmonary Disease

Ferroptosis is a new mode of cell death that is characterized by the excessive accumulation of iron and lipid peroxides. It has unique morphological changes and disparate biochemical features and plays an intricate role in many pathophysiological processes. A great deal of researches confirms that ferroptosis can be regulated by numerous molecules through different mechanisms, supporting great potentials for novel pharmacological therapeutics. Recently, several studies reveal that ferroptosis is also closely associated with the initiation and development of respiratory disease. Understanding the specific mechanism, the molecular trait of ferroptosis and their relationship with pulmonary disease could provide significant references regarding effective treatment of these obstinate disease.

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Is Ferroptosis a Key Component of the Process Leading to Multiorgan Damage in COVID-19?

Antioxidants ◽

10.3390/antiox10111677 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1677

Author(s):

Anna Maria Fratta Pasini ◽

Chiara Stranieri ◽

Domenico Girelli ◽

Fabiana Busti ◽

Luciano Cominacini

Keyword(s):

Reactive Oxygen Species ◽

Fatty Acids ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cardiogenic Shock ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Lipid Peroxides ◽

Oxygen Species ◽

Intracellular Iron ◽

Multiple Organs ◽

Respiratory Pathology

Even though COVID-19 is mostly well-known for affecting respiratory pathology, it can also result in several extrapulmonary manifestations, leading to multiorgan damage. A recent reported case of SARS-CoV-2 myocarditis with cardiogenic shock showed a signature of myocardial and kidney ferroptosis, a novel, iron-dependent programmed cell death. The term ferroptosis was coined in the last decade to describe the form of cell death induced by the small molecule erastin. As a specific inducer of ferroptosis, erastin inhibits cystine-glutamate antiporter system Xc-, blocking transportation into the cytoplasm of cystine, a precursor of glutathione (GSH) in exchange with glutamate and the consequent malfunction of GPX4. Ferroptosis is also promoted by intracellular iron overload and by the iron-dependent accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)-derived lipid peroxides. Since depletion of GSH, inactivation of GPX4, altered iron metabolism, and upregulation of PUFA peroxidation by reactive oxygen species are peculiar signs of COVID-19, there is the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 may trigger ferroptosis in the cells of multiple organs, thus contributing to multiorgan damage. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis and its possible relationship with SARS-CoV-2 infection and multiorgan damage. Finally, we analyze the potential interventions that may combat ferroptosis and, therefore, reduce multiorgan damage.

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Pharmacological Targeting of Ferroptosis in Cancer Treatment

Current Cancer Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1568009621666211202091523 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

Author(s):

Mehdi Rabiee Valashedi ◽

Amirsadegh Nikoo ◽

Nima Najafi-Ghalehlou ◽

Kazuo Tomita ◽

Yoshikazu Kuwahara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Antioxidant Defense ◽

Lipid Peroxides ◽

Antioxidant Defense System ◽

The Past ◽

Regulated Cell Death ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

Excessive Accumulation ◽

Tumor Cell Resistance

: Ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic mode of Regulated Cell Death (RCD) driven by excessive accumulation of toxic lipid peroxides and iron overload. Ferroptosis could be triggered by inhibiting the antioxidant defense system and accumulating iron-dependent Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) that react with polyunsaturated fatty acids in abundance. Emerging evidence over the past few years has revealed that ferroptosis is of great potential in inhibiting growth and metastasis and overcoming tumor cell resistance. Thus, targeting this form of cell death could be perceived as a potentially burgeoning approach in cancer treatment. This review briefly presents the underlying mechanisms of ferroptosis and further aims to discuss various types of existing drugs and natural compounds that could be potentially repurposed for targeting ferroptosis in tumor cells. This, in turn, will provide critical perspectives on future studies concerning ferroptosis-based cancer therapy.

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Excitotoxicity as a Target Against Neurodegenerative Processes

Current Pharmaceutical Design ◽

10.2174/1381612826666200113162641 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (12) ◽

pp. 1251-1262 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Octavio Binvignat ◽

Jordi Olloquequi

Keyword(s):

Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽

Effective Treatment ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Prolonged Exposure ◽

Mitochondrial Dysfunctions ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Clinical Investigations ◽

Turn Over ◽

Excitotoxic Cell Death ◽

Lateral Sclerosis

: The global burden of neurodegenerative diseases is alarmingly increasing in parallel to the aging of population. Although the molecular mechanisms leading to neurodegeneration are not completely understood, excitotoxicity, defined as the injury and death of neurons due to excessive or prolonged exposure to excitatory amino acids, has been shown to play a pivotal role. The increased release and/or decreased uptake of glutamate results in dysregulation of neuronal calcium homeostasis, leading to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunctions, disturbances in protein turn-over and neuroinflammation. : Despite the anti-excitotoxic drug memantine has shown modest beneficial effects in some patients with dementia, to date, there is no effective treatment capable of halting or curing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease, Huntington’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This has led to a growing body of research focusing on understanding the mechanisms associated with the excitotoxic insult and on uncovering potential therapeutic strategies targeting these mechanisms. : In the present review, we examine the molecular mechanisms related to excitotoxic cell death. Moreover, we provide a comprehensive and updated state of the art of preclinical and clinical investigations targeting excitotoxic- related mechanisms in order to provide an effective treatment against neurodegeneration.

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Oxidative Stress, Ocular Disease and Diabetes Retinopathy

Current Pharmaceutical Design ◽

10.2174/1381612825666190115121531 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (40) ◽

pp. 4726-4741 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Orathai Tangvarasittichai ◽

Surapon Tangvarasittichai

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Dna Damage ◽

Cell Death ◽

Protein Modification ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Corneal Dystrophy ◽

Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽

Ocular Diseases ◽

Retinal Light Damage ◽

Age Related

Background: Oxidative stress is caused by free radicals or oxidant productions, including lipid peroxidation, protein modification, DNA damage and apoptosis or cell death and results in cellular degeneration and neurodegeneration from damage to macromolecules. Results: Accumulation of the DNA damage (8HOdG) products and the end products of LPO (including aldehyde, diene, triene conjugates and Schiff’s bases) were noted in the research studies. Significantly higher levels of these products in comparison with the controls were observed. Oxidative stress induced changes to ocular cells and tissues. Typical changes include ECM accumulation, cell dysfunction, cell death, advanced senescence, disarrangement or rearrangement of the cytoskeleton and released inflammatory cytokines. It is involved in ocular diseases, including keratoconus, Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy, and granular corneal dystrophy type 2, cataract, age-related macular degeneration, primary open-angle glaucoma, retinal light damage, and retinopathy of prematurity. These ocular diseases are the cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Conclusions: Oxidative stress, inflammation and autophagy are implicated in biochemical and morphological changes in these ocular tissues. The development of therapy is a major target for the management care of these ocular diseases.

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Progress in understanding the role of lncRNA in programmed cell death

Cell Death Discovery ◽

10.1038/s41420-021-00407-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Na Jiang ◽

Xiaoyu Zhang ◽

Xuejun Gu ◽

Xiaozhuang Li ◽

Lei Shang

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Programmed Cell Death ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Membrane Receptors ◽

Gene Expressions ◽

Apoptosis Pathway ◽

Stem Cell Pluripotency ◽

Extrinsic Apoptosis ◽

Related Proteins ◽

Cycle Regulation

AbstractLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides but not translated into proteins. LncRNAs regulate gene expressions at multiple levels, such as chromatin, transcription, and post-transcription. Further, lncRNAs participate in various biological processes such as cell differentiation, cell cycle regulation, and maintenance of stem cell pluripotency. We have previously reported that lncRNAs are closely related to programmed cell death (PCD), which includes apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, and ferroptosis. Overexpression of lncRNA can suppress the extrinsic apoptosis pathway by downregulating of membrane receptors and protect tumor cells by inhibiting the expression of necroptosis-related proteins. Some lncRNAs can also act as competitive endogenous RNA to prevent oxidation, thereby inhibiting ferroptosis, while some are known to activate autophagy. The relationship between lncRNA and PCD has promising implications in clinical research, and reports have highlighted this relationship in various cancers such as non-small cell lung cancer and gastric cancer. This review systematically summarizes the advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms through which lncRNAs impact PCD.

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Individual Expression of Hepatitis A Virus 3C Protease Induces Ferroptosis in Human Cells In Vitro

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22157906 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (15) ◽

pp. 7906

Author(s):

Alexey A. Komissarov ◽

Maria A. Karaseva ◽

Marina P. Roschina ◽

Andrey V. Shubin ◽

Nataliya A. Lunina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Hepatitis A ◽

Hepatitis A Virus ◽

Proteolytic Enzymes ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Human Cells ◽

Mitochondrial Potential ◽

3C Protease ◽

Wide Range

Regulated cell death (RCD) is a fundamental process common to nearly all living beings and essential for the development and tissue homeostasis in animals and humans. A wide range of molecules can induce RCD, including a number of viral proteolytic enzymes. To date, numerous data indicate that picornaviral 3C proteases can induce RCD. In most reported cases, these proteases induce classical caspase-dependent apoptosis. In contrast, the human hepatitis A virus 3C protease (3Cpro) has recently been shown to cause caspase-independent cell death accompanied by previously undescribed features. Here, we expressed 3Cpro in HEK293, HeLa, and A549 human cell lines to characterize 3Cpro-induced cell death morphologically and biochemically using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. We found that dead cells demonstrated necrosis-like morphological changes including permeabilization of the plasma membrane, loss of mitochondrial potential, as well as mitochondria and nuclei swelling. Additionally, we showed that 3Cpro-induced cell death was efficiently blocked by ferroptosis inhibitors and was accompanied by intense lipid peroxidation. Taken together, these results indicate that 3Cpro induces ferroptosis upon its individual expression in human cells. This is the first demonstration that a proteolytic enzyme can induce ferroptosis, the recently discovered and actively studied type of RCD.

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Platelet-derived lysophosphatidic acid mediated LPAR1 activation as a therapeutic target for osteosarcoma metastasis

Oncogene ◽

10.1038/s41388-021-01956-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Satoshi Takagi ◽

Yuki Sasaki ◽

Sumie Koike ◽

Ai Takemoto ◽

Yosuke Seto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Platelet Activation ◽

Pulmonary Metastasis ◽

Lysophosphatidic Acid ◽

Therapeutic Intervention ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Osteosarcoma Cells ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Platelet Releasate

AbstractOsteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone cancer, with high rates of pulmonary metastasis. Osteosarcoma patients with pulmonary metastasis have worse prognosis than those with localized disease, leading to dramatically reduced survival rates. Therefore, understanding the biological characteristics of metastatic osteosarcoma and the molecular mechanisms of invasion and metastasis of osteosarcoma cells will lead to the development of innovative therapeutic intervention for advanced osteosarcoma. Here, we identified that osteosarcoma cells commonly exhibit high platelet activation-inducing characteristics, and molecules released from activated platelets promote the invasiveness of osteosarcoma cells. Given that heat-denatured platelet releasate maintained the ability to promote osteosarcoma invasion, we focused on heat-tolerant molecules, such as lipid mediators in the platelet releasate. Osteosarcoma-induced platelet activation leads to abundant lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) release. Exposure to LPA or platelet releasate induced morphological changes and increased invasiveness of osteosarcoma cells. By analyzing publicly available transcriptome datasets and our in-house osteosarcoma patient-derived xenograft tumors, we found that LPA receptor 1 (LPAR1) is notably upregulated in osteosarcoma. LPAR1 gene KO in osteosarcoma cells abolished the platelet-mediated osteosarcoma invasion in vitro and the formation of early pulmonary metastatic foci in experimental pulmonary metastasis models. Of note, the pharmacological inhibition of LPAR1 by the orally available LPAR1 antagonist, ONO-7300243, prevented pulmonary metastasis of osteosarcoma in the mouse models. These results indicate that the LPA–LPAR1 axis is essential for the osteosarcoma invasion and metastasis, and targeting LPAR1 would be a promising therapeutic intervention for advanced osteosarcoma.

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Hypoxia, Metabolic Reprogramming, and Drug Resistance in Liver Cancer

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10071715 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 1715

Author(s):

Macus Hao-Ran Bao ◽

Carmen Chak-Lui Wong

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Drug Resistance ◽

Liver Cancer ◽

Effective Treatment ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽

Metabolic Reprogramming ◽

Combination Therapies ◽

Low Oxygen ◽

Treatment Regimens

Hypoxia, low oxygen (O2) level, is a hallmark of solid cancers, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common and fatal cancers worldwide. Hypoxia contributes to drug resistance in cancer through various molecular mechanisms. In this review, we particularly focus on the roles of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-mediated metabolic reprogramming in drug resistance in HCC. Combination therapies targeting hypoxia-induced metabolic enzymes to overcome drug resistance will also be summarized. Acquisition of drug resistance is the major cause of unsatisfactory clinical outcomes of existing HCC treatments. Extra efforts to identify novel mechanisms to combat refractory hypoxic HCC are warranted for the development of more effective treatment regimens for HCC patients.

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Molecular mechanisms and the vital roles of resistin, TLR 4, and NF-κB in treating type 2 diabetic complications

Beni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences ◽

10.1186/s43088-020-00078-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Venkataiah Gudise ◽

Bimalendu Chowdhury

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Effective Treatment ◽

Diabetic Complications ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Cellular Proliferation ◽

Vascular Complications ◽

Diabetic Patients ◽

Rapid Progression ◽

Main Body

Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes in obese (≥ 25 and ≥ 30 kg/m2) patients is the foremost cause of cardiovascular complications like stroke, osteoarthritis, cancers (endometrial, breast, ovarian, liver, kidney, colon, and prostate), and vascular complications like diabetic neuropathy, diabetic and retinopathy, and diabetic nephropathy. It is recognized as a global burden disorder with high prevalence in middle-income nations which might lead to a double burden on health care professionals. Hence, this review emphasizes on understanding the complexity and vital signaling tracts involved in diabetic complications for effective treatment. Main body Type 2 diabetes in overweight patients induces the creation of specific ROS that further leads to changes in cellular proliferation, hypothalamus, and fringe. The resistin, TLR4, and NF-κB signalings are mainly involved in the progression of central and fringe changes such as insulin resistance and inflammation in diabetic patients. The overexpression of these signals might lead to the rapid progression of diabetic vascular complications induced by the release of proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, interleukins, and cyclooxygenase-mediated chemicals. Until now, there has been no curative treatment for diabetes. Therefore, to effectively treat complications of type 2 diabetes, the researchers need to concentrate on the molecular mechanisms and important signaling tracts involved. Conclusion In this review, we suggested the molecular mechanism of STZ-HFD induced type 2 diabetes and the vital roles of resistin, TLR4, and NF-κB signalings in central, fringe changes, and development diabetic complications for its effective treatment. Graphical abstract

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Fibrillar α-synuclein induces neurotoxic astrocyte activation via RIP kinase signaling and NF-κB

Cell Death and Disease ◽

10.1038/s41419-021-04049-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

Author(s):

Tsui-Wen Chou ◽

Nydia P. Chang ◽

Medha Krishnagiri ◽

Aisha P. Patel ◽

Marissa Lindman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Cell Biology ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽

Neuronal Cell ◽

Dopamine Neurons ◽

Functional Markers ◽

Kinase Signaling ◽

Astrocyte Activation ◽

Transcriptional Responses

AbstractParkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the death of midbrain dopamine neurons. The pathogenesis of PD is poorly understood, though misfolded and/or aggregated forms of the protein α-synuclein have been implicated in several neurodegenerative disease processes, including neuroinflammation and astrocyte activation. Astrocytes in the midbrain play complex roles during PD, initiating both harmful and protective processes that vary over the course of the disease. However, despite their significant regulatory roles during neurodegeneration, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that promote pathogenic astrocyte activity remain mysterious. Here, we show that α-synuclein preformed fibrils (PFFs) induce pathogenic activation of human midbrain astrocytes, marked by inflammatory transcriptional responses, downregulation of phagocytic function, and conferral of neurotoxic activity. These effects required the necroptotic kinases RIPK1 and RIPK3, but were independent of MLKL and necroptosis. Instead, both transcriptional and functional markers of astrocyte activation occurred via RIPK-dependent activation of NF-κB signaling. Our study identifies a previously unknown function for α-synuclein in promoting neurotoxic astrocyte activation, as well as new cell death-independent roles for RIP kinase signaling in the regulation of glial cell biology and neuroinflammation. Together, these findings highlight previously unappreciated molecular mechanisms of pathologic astrocyte activation and neuronal cell death with implications for Parkinsonian neurodegeneration.

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