Yu Dianping, Hu Hongmei, Zhang Qing, Wang Chengji, Xu Mengting, Xu Hanchen, Geng Xiangxin, Cai Minchen, Zhang Hongwei, Guo Mengmeng, Lu Dong, Xu Hanchi, Li Linyang, Zhang Xing, Shen Ruling, Lin Sheng, Wang Qun, Zhang Weidong, Liu Sanhong
State Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of TCM Chemical Biology, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai, China.
Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2025 Jul 7;10(1):211. doi: 10.1038/s41392-025-02296-7.
Ferroptosis induced by ferrous ions (Fe) and lipid peroxidation accumulation is a novel form of regulated cell death that has become a hot topic in tumor therapy research. Identifying small-molecule drugs that can induce ferroptosis in tumor cells is a very attractive therapeutic strategy. Here, we screened a natural product, acevaltrate (ACE), which rapidly and strongly induces ferroptosis in colorectal cancer cells. ACE not only increases Fe levels in colorectal cancer cells by targeting iron chaperones PCBP1/2 and reducing their expression but also disrupts the antioxidant system of colorectal cancer cells by targeting GPX4 and inhibiting its enzymatic activity, leading to its ubiquitin-mediated degradation. This dual effect of ACE makes it significantly more effective than classical ferroptosis inducers in inducing ferroptosis. Our animal experiments revealed that the therapeutic effect of ACE surpasses that of established ferroptosis-inducing drugs and is superior to that of first-line clinical drugs such as capecitabine and TAS-102. Importantly, ACE also demonstrated superior inhibitory effects in colorectal tumor organoids versus at the cellular level, underscoring its potential for clinical application. This study pioneers the discovery of a small molecule inhibitor that targets both PCBP1/2 and GPX4, offering a novel therapeutic strategy for eliminating cancer cells through ferroptosis. Acevaltrate (ACE) was identified as a potent inducer of ferroptosis in colorectal cancer cells. ACE increases Fe levels by targeting PCBP1/2 and disrupts the antioxidant system by inhibiting GPX4, leading to its degradation. This dual action makes ACE more effective at inducing ferroptosis than traditional inducers. Our study introduces ACE as the first small-molecule inhibitor of PCBP1/2 and GPX4, offering a new therapeutic approach for cancer cell elimination through ferroptosis.
由亚铁离子(Fe)和脂质过氧化积累诱导的铁死亡是一种新型的程序性细胞死亡形式,已成为肿瘤治疗研究的热点话题。鉴定能够诱导肿瘤细胞发生铁死亡的小分子药物是一种非常有吸引力的治疗策略。在此,我们筛选出一种天然产物乙酰缬草素(ACE),它能在结肠癌细胞中快速且强烈地诱导铁死亡。ACE不仅通过靶向铁伴侣蛋白PCBP1/2并降低其表达来提高结肠癌细胞中的铁水平,还通过靶向谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶4(GPX4)并抑制其酶活性来破坏结肠癌细胞的抗氧化系统,导致其通过泛素介导的降解。ACE的这种双重作用使其在诱导铁死亡方面比经典的铁死亡诱导剂显著更有效。我们的动物实验表明,ACE的治疗效果超过了已有的铁死亡诱导药物,并且优于一线临床药物如卡培他滨和TAS - 102。重要的是,ACE在结肠肿瘤类器官中也显示出比在细胞水平上更强的抑制作用,突出了其临床应用潜力。本研究首次发现了一种同时靶向PCBP1/2和GPX4的小分子抑制剂,为通过铁死亡消除癌细胞提供了一种新的治疗策略。乙酰缬草素(ACE)被鉴定为结肠癌细胞中铁死亡的有效诱导剂。ACE通过靶向PCBP1/2提高铁水平,并通过抑制GPX4破坏抗氧化系统,导致其降解。这种双重作用使ACE在诱导铁死亡方面比传统诱导剂更有效。我们的研究将ACE作为PCBP1/2和GPX4的首个小分子抑制剂引入,为通过铁死亡消除癌细胞提供了一种新的治疗方法。
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