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Review
. 2022 Jan 7;22(1):12.
doi: 10.1186/s12935-021-02366-0.

Induction and application of ferroptosis in cancer therapy

Qing Nie  1 , Yue Hu  1 , Xiao Yu  2 , Xiao Li  1 , Xuedong Fang  3
Affiliations
Review

Induction and application of ferroptosis in cancer therapy

Qing Nie et al. Cancer Cell Int. .

Abstract

At present, more than one cell death pathways have been found, one of which is ferroptosis. Ferroptosis was discovered in 2012 and described as an iron-dependent and lipid peroxidation-driven regulated cell death pathway. In the past few years, ferroptosis has been shown to induce tumor cell death, providing new ideas for tumor treatment. In this article, we summarize the latest advances in ferroptosis-induced tumor therapy at the intersection of tumor biology, molecular biology, redox biology, and materials chemistry. First, we state the characteristics of ferroptosis in cells, then introduce the key molecular mechanism of ferroptosis, and describes the relationship between ferroptosis and oxidative stress signaling pathways. Finally, we focused on several types of ferroptosis inducers discovered by scholars, and the application of ferroptosis in systemic chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and nanomedicine, in the hope that ferroptosis can exert its potential in the treatment of tumors.

Keywords: Cancer therapy; Ferroptosis; Inducers; Mechanism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest and have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The progression of cell death
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Morphological features. Transmission electron microscopy of BJeLR cells treated with DMSO (10 h), erastin (37 mM, 10 h), staurosporine (STS, 0.75 mM, 8 h), H2O2 (16 mM, 1 h), and rapamycin (Rap, 100 nM, 24 h). Single white arrowheads, shrunken mitochondria; paired white arrowheads, chromatin condensation; black arrowheads, cytoplasmic and organelle swelling and plasma membrane rupture; black arrow, formation of double-membrane vesicles. A minimum of 10 cells per treatment condition were examined
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The regulatory mechanisms of ferroptosis
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The inducers of ferroptosis
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Dual role of ferroptosis in tumor immunity. a CD8+ T cell-mediated IFNG release inhibits SLC7A11 expression in cancer cells through activation of the STAT1 pathway, thereby inducing tumor cell ferroptosis. b Ferroptotic cancer cell-mediated KRASG12D release increases M2 macrophage polarization through activation of the STAT3 pathway, thereby limiting antitumor immunity
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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