The crosstalk between ferroptosis and autophagy in cancer

Identification of new hub- ferroptosis-related genes in Lupus Nephritis

Background: Lupus Nephritis (LN) is the primary causation of kidney injury in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Ferroptosis is a programmed cell death. Therefore, understanding the crosstalk between LN and ferroptosis is still a significant challenge. Methods: We obtained the expression profile of LN kidney biopsy samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and utilised the R-project software to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Then, we conducted a functional correlation analysis. Ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) crossover to select FRGs with LN. Afterwards, we used CIBERSORT to assess the infiltration of immune cells in both LN tissues and healthy control samples. Finally, we performed immunohistochemistry on LN human renal tissue. Results: 10619 DEGs screened from the LN biopsy tissue were identified. 22 hub-ferroptosis-related genes with LN (FRGs-LN) were screened out. The CIBERSORT findings revealed that there were significant statistical differences in immune cells between healthy control samples and LN tissues. Immunohistochemistry further demonstrated a significant difference in HRAS, TFRC, ATM, and SRC expression in renal tissue between normal and control groups. Conclusion: We developed a signature that allowed us to identify 22 new biomarkers associated with FRGs-LN. These findings suggest new insights into the pathology and therapeutic potential of LN ferroptosis inhibitors and iron chelators.

Sulfiredoxin-1 accelerates erastin-induced ferroptosis in HT-22 hippocampal neurons by driving heme Oxygenase-1 activation

Ferroptosis, a recently identified non-apoptotic form of cell death, is strongly associated with neurological diseases and has emerged as a potential therapeutic target. Nevertheless, the fundamental mechanisms are still predominantly unidentified. In the current investigation, sulfiredoxin-1 (SRXN1) has been identified as a crucial regulator that enhances the susceptibility to ferroptosis in HT-22 mouse hippocampal cells treated with erastin. Utilizing TMT-based proteomics, a significant increase in SRXN1 expression was observed in erastin-exposed HT-22 cells. Efficient amelioration of erastin-induced ferroptosis was achieved via the knockdown of SRXN1, which resulted in the reduction of intracellular Fe2+ levels and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HT-22 cells. Notably, the activation of Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) was found to be crucial for inducing SRXN1 expression in HT-22 cells upon treatment with erastin. SRXN1 increased intracellular ROS and Fe2+ levels by activating HO-1 expression, which promoted erastin-induced ferroptosis in HT-22 cells. Inhibiting SRXN1 or HO-1 alleviated erastin-induced autophagy in HT-22 cells. Additionally, upregulation of SRXN1 or HO-1 increased the susceptibility of HT-22 cells to ferroptosis, a process that was counteracted by the autophagy inhibitor 3-Methyladenine (3-MA). These results indicate that SRXN1 is a key regulator of ferroptosis, activating the HO-1 protein through cellular redox regulation, ferrous iron accumulation, and autophagy in HT-22 cells. These findings elucidate a novel molecular mechanism of erastin-induced ferroptosis sensitivity and suggest that SRXN1-HO-1-autophagy-dependent ferroptosis serves as a promising treatment approach for neurodegenerative diseases.

Autophagy in aging-related diseases and cancer: Principles, regulatory mechanisms and therapeutic potential

Macroautophagy/autophagy is primarily accountable for the degradation of damaged organelles and toxic macromolecules in the cells. Regarding the essential function of autophagy for preserving cellular homeostasis, changes in, or dysfunction of, autophagy flux can lead to disease development. In the current paper, the complicated function of autophagy in aging-associated pathologies and cancer is evaluated, highlighting the underlying molecular mechanisms that can affect longevity and disease pathogenesis. As a natural biological process, a reduction in autophagy is observed with aging, resulting in an accumulation of cell damage and the development of different diseases, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. The MTOR, AMPK, and ATG proteins demonstrate changes during aging, and they are promising therapeutic targets. Insulin/IGF1, TOR, PKA, AKT/PKB, caloric restriction and mitochondrial respiration are vital for lifespan regulation and can modulate or have an interaction with autophagy. The specific types of autophagy, such as mitophagy that degrades mitochondria, can regulate aging by affecting these organelles and eliminating those mitochondria with genomic mutations. Autophagy and its specific types contribute to the regulation of carcinogenesis and they are able to dually enhance or decrease cancer progression. Cancer hallmarks, including proliferation, metastasis, therapy resistance and immune reactions, are tightly regulated by autophagy, supporting the conclusion that autophagy is a promising target in cancer therapy.