Abstract
Ferroptosis, a novel form of regulated cell death, is characterized by oxidative injury from iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. In a natural product library screening for ferroptosis inhibitor, we found that baicalein is a potent inhibitor of erastin-induced ferroptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. Baicalein (also termed 5,6,7-trihydroxyflavone) is a flavonoid originally obtained from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Scutellaria lateriflora. We showed that baicalein exhibits remarkable anti-ferroptosis activity compared with well-known ferroptosis inhibitors such as ferrostatin-1, liproxstatin-1, deferoxamine mesylate, and β-mercaptoethanol. At the biochemistry level, baicalein limits erastin-induced ferrous iron production, glutathione depletion, and lipid peroxidation. At the protein level, baicalein suppresses erastin-mediated degradation of glutathione peroxidase 4, a phospholipid hydroperoxidase that protects cells against membrane lipid peroxidation. Thus, baicalein enhances cellular anti-ferroptosis capacity and could be a potential therapeutic agent for ferroptosis-associated tissue injury.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 775-780 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications |
Volume | 473 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 13 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Baicalein
- Ferroptosis
- GPX4
- Lipid peroxidation
- Natural product
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology