Molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis and their role in inflammation

Abstract

Ferroptosis is a type of non-apoptotic cell death, which demonstrates a definite iron-dependent expression pattern and is associated with lipid peroxidation. Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) is a key regulator of ferroptosis. Ferroptosis is involved in the development and progression of various diseases, such as cancer, tissue ischemia–reperfusion injury, neurological diseases, and respiratory diseases. It has been established previously that ferroptotic cells trigger the innate immune system by releasing inflammation-linked damage-related molecules, and immune cells stimulate the inflammatory response by recognizing the operational mechanism of ferroptosis. Some anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to inhibit ferroptosis in certain cell models. Conversely, some ferroptosis inhibitors also exert anti-inflammatory effects in certain diseases. The present review evaluated the relationship between ferroptosis and inflammation, as well as the underlying internal mechanism, and provided valuable insights into developing novel treatment strategies for inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Keywords:

• Ferroptosis
• inflammation
• iron
• GSH
• lipid peroxidation

Acknowledgement

The authors thank the financial support from the Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Item (Grant No. 20200403119SF), The Science and Technology Project of the Education Department of Jilin Province (JJKH20201113KJ, JJKH20211219KJ).

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Jilin Province Development of Finance Science and Technology Item Grant No. JCSZ2019378-12#.