The CoQ oxidoreductase FSP1 acts in parallel to GPX4 to inhibit ferroptosis

Abstract

Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death that is caused by the iron-dependent peroxidation of lipids ^{1, 2} . The glutathione-dependent lipid hydroperoxidase glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) prevents ferroptosis by converting lipid hydroperoxides into non-toxic lipid alcohols ^{3, 4} . Ferroptosis has been implicated in the cell death that underlies several degenerative conditions ² , and induction of ferroptosis by inhibition of GPX4 has emerged as a therapeutic strategy to trigger cancer cell death ⁵ . However, sensitivity to GPX4 inhibitors varies greatly across cancer cell lines ⁶ , suggesting that additional factors govern resistance to ferroptosis. Here, employing a synthetic lethal CRISPR/Cas9 screen, we identify ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1) (previously known as apoptosis-inducing factor mitochondrial 2 (AIFM2)) as a potent ferroptosis resistance factor. Our data indicate that myristoylation recruits FSP1 to the plasma membrane where it functions as an oxidoreductase that reduces coenzyme Q10 (CoQ), generating a lipophilic radical-trapping antioxidant (RTA) that halts the propagation of lipid peroxides. We further find that FSP1 expression positively correlates with ferroptosis resistance across hundreds of cancer cell lines, and that FSP1 mediates resistance to ferroptosis in lung cancer cells in culture and in mouse tumor xenografts. Thus, our data identify FSP1 as a key component of a non-mitochondrial CoQ antioxidant system that acts in parallel to the canonical glutathione-based GPX4 pathway. These findings define a new ferroptosis suppression pathway and indicate that pharmacological inhibition of FSP1 may provide an effective strategy to sensitize cancer cells to ferroptosis-inducing chemotherapeutics.