ALOX5 deficiency contributes to bladder cancer progression by mediating ferroptosis escape

• Published in: Cell death & disease 2023-12, Vol.14 (12), p.800-800, Article 800
• Main Authors: Liu, Tianyao, Xu, Xinyan, Li, Jiazheng, Bai, Ming, Zhu, Wenjie, Liu, Yanqing, Liu, Siyang, Zhao, Zihan, Li, Tianhang, Jiang, Ning, Bai, Yuhao, Jin, Qingyang, Zhang, Yulin, Zheng, Yufeng, Zhou, Shengkai, Zhan, Shoubin, Sun, Ying, Liang, Gaoli, Luo, Yang, Chen, Xi, Guo, Hongqian, Yang, Rong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/105; 13/51; 14/1; 14/28; 14/34; 14/63; 42/109; 42/41; 42/89; 631/67/1244; 631/80/82; 64/60; Antibodies; Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase - genetics; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bladder cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell Biology; Cell Culture; Cell death; CRISPR; EGR-1 protein; Ferroptosis; Ferroptosis - genetics; Humans; Immunology; Life Sciences; RNA-mediated interference; Therapeutic targets; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - genetics; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - pathology
• ISSN: 2041-4889; 2041-4889
• DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-06333-7

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death driven by the lethal lipid peroxides. Previous studies have demonstrated that inducing ferroptosis holds great potential in cancer therapy, especially for patients with traditional therapy failure. However, cancer cells can acquire ferroptosis evasion during progression. To date, the therapeutic potential of inducing ferroptosis in bladder cancer (BCa) remains unclear, and whether a ferroptosis escape mechanism exists in BCa needs further investigation. This study verified that low pathological stage BCa cells were highly sensitive to RSL3-induced ferroptosis, whereas high pathological stage BCa cells exhibited obviously ferroptosis resistance. RNA-seq, RNAi-mediated loss-of-function, and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments demonstrated that ALOX5 deficiency was the crucial factor of BCa resistance to ferroptosis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that ALOX5 deficiency was regulated by EGR1 at the transcriptional level. Clinically, ALOX5 expression was decreased in BCa tissues, and its low expression was associated with poor survival. Collectively, this study uncovers a novel mechanism for BCa ferroptosis escape and proposes that ALOX5 may be a valuable therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker in BCa treatment.