Cuproptosis: emerging biomarkers and potential therapeutics in cancers

Min Wang; Lianwen Zheng; Shuai Ma; Ruixin Lin; Jiahui Li; Shuli Yang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1288504

Cuproptosis: emerging biomarkers and potential therapeutics in cancers

Front Oncol. 2023 Nov 7:13:1288504. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1288504. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Min Wang¹, Lianwen Zheng¹, Shuai Ma¹, Ruixin Lin², Jiahui Li¹, Shuli Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
² Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.

Abstract

The sustenance of human life activities depends on copper, which also serves as a crucial factor for vital enzymes. Under typical circumstances, active homeostatic mechanisms keep the intracellular copper ion concentration low. Excess copper ions cause excessive cellular respiration, which causes cytotoxicity and cell death as levels steadily rise above a threshold. It is a novel cell death that depends on mitochondrial respiration, copper ions, and regulation. Cuproptosis is now understood to play a role in several pathogenic processes, including inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Copper death is a type of regulatory cell death(RCD).Numerous diseases are correlated with the development of copper homeostasis imbalances. One of the most popular areas of study in the field of cancer is cuproptosis. It has been discovered that cancer angiogenesis, proliferation, growth, and metastasis are all correlated with accumulation of copper ions. Copper ion concentrations can serve as a crucial marker for cancer development. In order to serve as a reference for clinical research on the product, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, this paper covers the function of copper ion homeostasis imbalance in malignant cancers and related molecular pathways.

Keywords: cancer; cell death; copper; cuproptosis; immunotherapy; metabolism; molecular targeted therapy.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding for this work was provided by the Jilin Provincial Department of Finance Project and Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission Health Special Fund (No. 2020SCZT078 and No. 3D5204901429).