Columbia researchers have found that a rare type of lipid is a key driver of ferroptosis, a form of cell death discovered by Columbia professor Brent Stockwell. The findings, appearing in Cell, provide new detail on how cells die during ferroptosis and could improve understanding of how to stop ferroptosis in contexts where it is harmfully occurring in neurodegenerative diseases, for example or induce it in contexts where it could be useful, such as using it to kill dangerous cancer cells.
The new research found that a rare type of lipid with two polyunsaturated fatty acyl tails, called a diPUFA phospholipid, was present in a range of contexts where ferroptosis was occurring, including in aging brains and Huntington disease-affected brain tissue. The finding indicates that the lipid is efficient at promoting ferroptosis.
The research was conducted by professors in Columbia’s Department of Biological Sciences, Department of Chemistry, and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Stockwell first discovered ferroptosis in 2012, when he found that certain cells were dying because their lipid layers were collapsing an unusual form of cell death that differs from the most common kind, which begins with the cell forming blisters on its outer surface. Since that discovery, researchers in Stockwell’s lab and elsewhere have continued to investigate ferroptosis, discovering that it can occur naturally in aging cells, in pathological contexts, and can be induced to treat disease.
By Columbia University
Article can be accessed on: phys.org