The recently defined type of cell death ferroptosis has garnered significant attention as a potential new approach to cancer treatment owing to its more immunogenic nature when compared with apoptosis. Ferroptosis is characterized by the depletion of glutathione (GSH)/glutathione peroxidase-4 (GPx4) and iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Diplacone (DP), a geranylated flavonoid compound found in Paulownia tomentosa fruit, has been identified to have anti-inflammatory and anti-radical activity. In this study, the potential anticancer activity of DP was explored against A549 human lung cancer cells. It was found that DP induced a form of cytotoxicity distinct from apoptosis, which was accompanied by extensive mitochondrial-derived cytoplasmic vacuoles. DP was also shown to increase mitochondrial Ca2+ influx, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore-opening. These changes led to decreases in mitochondrial membrane potential and DP-induced cell death. DP also induced lipid peroxidation and ATF3 expression, which are hallmarks of ferroptosis. The ferroptosis inhibitors ferrostatin-1 and liproxstatin-1 were effective in counteracting the DP-mediated ferroptosis-related features. Our results could contribute to the use of DP as a ferroptosis-inducing agent, enabling studies focusing on the relationship between ferroptosis and the immunogenic cell death of cancer cells.
Keywords: diplacone (DP); ferroptosis; mitochondria permeability transition (MPT); vacuolation.