谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶4(GPX4)是一种关键的铁死亡调节因子,可调控T细胞和嵌合抗原受体T细胞(CAR-T细胞)对铁死亡的敏感性。
GPX4 is a key ferroptosis regulator orchestrating T cells and CAR-T-cells sensitivity to ferroptosis.
作者信息
Kłopotowska Marta, Baranowska Iwona, Hajduk Szymon, Jurga Anna, Leśniowska Natalia, Łaźniewski Michał, Granica Monika, Krawczyk Marta, Dziewicka Milena, Graczyk Agnieszka, Słupski Jan, Zagożdżon Radosław, Plewczynski Dariusz, Winiarska Magdalena, Bajor Malgorzata
机构信息
Department of Immunology, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences, 5 Adolfa Pawinskiego St., 02-106, Warsaw, Poland.
Immunooncology Students' Science Association, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
出版信息
Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2025 Aug 4;74(9):280. doi: 10.1007/s00262-025-04133-w.
Induction of ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death, holds promise as a strategy to overcome tumor resistance to conventional therapies and enhance immunotherapy responses. However, while the susceptibility of tumor cells to ferroptosis is extensively studied, limited data exists on the vulnerability of immune cells to disturbed iron balance and lipid peroxidation. Here, we found that T-cell stimulation rewires iron and redox homeostasis and by increasing levels of reactive oxygen species and labile iron promotes lipid peroxidation and T-cells' ferroptosis. Upon stimulation, we detected changes in the balance of ferroptosis-suppressive proteins, including decrease of GPX4. Subsequently, we identified GPX4 as a master regulator orchestrating T/CAR-T-cells' sensitivity to ferroptosis and observed that GPX4 inhibitors impair CAR-T cells' antitumor functions. Our study demonstrated differential GPX4 expression and diverse susceptibility to ferroptosis between CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. Among analyzed subsets of naïve, central memory (CM), effector memory (EM), and terminally differentiated effector memory (TEMRA), CD8⁺ EM and CD8⁺ TEMRA cells exhibited the highest sensitivity to ferroptosis. We also showed that ferroptosis limited the anti-tumor efficacy of CAR-T cells, while ferroptosis inhibition improved their therapeutic effect, both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings are not only important to understand vulnerabilities of CAR-T cells but may also hold particular significance for their therapeutic development. In this context, future anticancer therapies should be carefully designed to selectively induce the ferroptosis of tumor cells without impeding cytotoxic cells' antitumor efficacy. Additionally, we postulate that promoting less differentiated phenotype of CAR-T cells should be exploited therapeutically to create CAR-T products characterized by decreased sensitivity to ferroptosis within tumor microenvironment.
铁死亡是一种铁依赖性的程序性细胞死亡形式,诱导铁死亡有望成为克服肿瘤对传统疗法的耐药性并增强免疫治疗反应的一种策略。然而,虽然肿瘤细胞对铁死亡的易感性已得到广泛研究,但关于免疫细胞对铁失衡和脂质过氧化的脆弱性的数据却很有限。在此,我们发现T细胞刺激会重塑铁和氧化还原稳态,并通过增加活性氧水平和不稳定铁来促进脂质过氧化和T细胞的铁死亡。刺激后,我们检测到铁死亡抑制蛋白平衡的变化,包括谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶4(GPX4)水平的降低。随后,我们将GPX4鉴定为协调T细胞/嵌合抗原受体T细胞(CAR-T细胞)对铁死亡敏感性的主要调节因子,并观察到GPX4抑制剂会损害CAR-T细胞的抗肿瘤功能。我们的研究表明,CD4⁺和CD8⁺T细胞之间GPX4表达存在差异,对铁死亡的敏感性也不同。在分析的初始、中枢记忆(CM)、效应记忆(EM)和终末分化效应记忆(TEMRA)亚群中,CD8⁺EM和CD8⁺TEMRA细胞对铁死亡的敏感性最高。我们还表明,铁死亡限制了CAR-T细胞的抗肿瘤功效,而抑制铁死亡在体外和体内均能提高其治疗效果。我们的发现不仅对于理解CAR-T细胞的脆弱性很重要,而且对于其治疗开发可能也具有特殊意义。在此背景下,未来的抗癌疗法应精心设计,以选择性诱导肿瘤细胞的铁死亡,同时不妨碍细胞毒性细胞的抗肿瘤功效。此外,我们推测,在治疗上应利用促进CAR-T细胞分化程度较低的表型,以创造在肿瘤微环境中对铁死亡敏感性降低的CAR-T产品。