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Cell death

A fatty acid switch drives ferroptosis in EMT

Ferroptosis is mediated by toxic accumulation of lipid peroxides. A new study reports that the transcription factor ZEB1 drives ferroptosis sensitivity by regulating the synthesis of highly oxidizable poly-unsaturated fatty acids. This creates a selective vulnerability that can be exploited to eliminate aggressive mesenchymal cancer cells.

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Fig. 1: ZEB1 drives ferroptosis sensitivity in mesenchymal cancer cells by regulation of fatty acid metabolism.

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Correspondence to Almut Schulze.

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Winkelkotte, A.M., Schulze, A. A fatty acid switch drives ferroptosis in EMT. Nat Cell Biol 26, 1375–1376 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-024-01483-y

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