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FINO2 initiates ferroptosis through GPX4 inactivation and iron oxidation

Nature Chemical Biology volume 14, pages 507–515 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic form of regulated cell death caused by the failure of the glutathione-dependent lipid-peroxide-scavenging network. FINO2 is an endoperoxide-containing 1,2-dioxolane that can initiate ferroptosis selectively in engineered cancer cells. We investigated the mechanism and structural features necessary for ferroptosis initiation by FINO2. We found that FINO2 requires both an endoperoxide moiety and a nearby hydroxyl head group to initiate ferroptosis. In contrast to previously described ferroptosis inducers, FINO2 does not inhibit system xc– or directly target the reducing enzyme GPX4, as do erastin and RSL3, respectively, nor does it deplete GPX4 protein, as does FIN56. Instead, FINO2 both indirectly inhibits GPX4 enzymatic function and directly oxidizes iron, ultimately causing widespread lipid peroxidation. These findings suggest that endoperoxides such as FINO2 can initiate a multipronged mechanism of ferroptosis.

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Fig. 1: FINO2 induces ferroptotic cell death.
Fig. 2: FINO2 does not alter glutathione homeostasis.
Fig. 3: FINO2 indirectly inhibits GPX4 activity.
Fig. 4: Potency of analogs.
Fig. 5: FINO2 directly oxidizes ferrous ion.
Fig. 6: Ferroptosis initiated by FINO2 oxidizes a large subset of the lipidome independent of lipoxygenase activity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Lin for assistance with NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, C. Hu for X-ray analysis, along with the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award Numbers DMR-0820341 and DMR-1420073, and J. Chung for assistance with cell culture. This research was supported by the Training Program in Molecular Biophysics Grant (T32GM008281 to M.M.G.), the National Cancer Institute (R35CA209896 and P01CA087497 to B.R.S), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (1RO1GM118730 to K.A.W.), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL114453 to V.E.K. and Y.Y.T.), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U19AI068021 to V.E.K. and Y.Y.T.) and the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1420073 to E.P.-P.). The Bruker Avance-400, 500 and 600 MHz spectrometers (NYU) were acquired through the support of the National Science Foundation (CHE-01162222).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Michael M. Gaschler and Alexander A. Andia.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Michael M. Gaschler, Hengrui Liu & Brent R. Stockwell

  2. Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Alexander A. Andia, Brisa Hurlocker, Christopher A. Vaiana, Daniel W. Heindel, Dylan S. Zuckerman, Amy Y. Chan, Eveliz Peguero-Pereira, Lara K. Mahal & K. A. Woerpel

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Joleen M. Csuka, Pieter H. Bos, Eduard Reznik, Ling F. Ye, Annie J. Lin & Brent R. Stockwell

  4. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Yulia Y. Tyurina & Valerian E. Kagan

  5. Retrotope Inc, Los Altos, CA, USA

    Mikhail S. Shchepinov

  6. Department of Chemistry, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus

    Andrei V. Bekish

  7. Institute of Physical Organic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus

    Maksim A. Fomich & Vadim V. Shmanai

  8. Department of Pharmacology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Jacob. D. Daniels

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Contributions

M.M.G., A.A.A., H.L., B.R.S. and K.A.W. contributed to the writing of the manuscript. M.M.G., A.A.A., L.K.M., V.E.K., B.R.S. and K.A.W. designed and planned research. M.M.G., A.A.A., H.L., J.M.C., D.W.H., D.S.Z., P.H.B., Y.Y.T. and J.D.D. conducted in vitro biochemical and metabolomic assays. M.M.G, A.A.A., B.H., C.A.V., D.W.H. and A.J.L. collected and analyzed cell viability data. L.F.Y. performed quantitative PCR. A.A.A. and H.L. conducted NMR studies. A.A.A. conducted stability studies. H.L. and E.R. conducted western blotting experiments. A.A.A., B.H. and D.S.Z. synthesized FINO2 and all structural analogues. A.Y.C. aided in furan synthesis. E.P.-P. aided in oxetane synthesis. M.A.F., A.V.B., V.V.S., A.J.L. and M.S.S. synthesized deuterated arachidonic acids. All authors have given their approval of the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to K. A. Woerpel or Brent R. Stockwell.

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M.S.S. is the Chief Scientific Officer of Retrotrope, Inc.

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Gaschler, M.M., Andia, A.A., Liu, H. et al. FINO2 initiates ferroptosis through GPX4 inactivation and iron oxidation. Nat Chem Biol 14, 507–515 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-018-0031-6

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