Endoplasmic Reticulum-Targeting Quinazolinone-Based Lipophilic Probe for Specific Photoinduced Ferroptosis and Its Induced Lipid Dynamic Regulation

J Med Chem. 2024 Feb 8;67(3):1900-1913. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01652. Epub 2024 Jan 29.

Abstract

Lethal lipid peroxidation caused by reactive oxygen species occurs in different types of programmed cell death, especially in ferroptosis. Ferroptosis inducers, which serve as small-molecule probes, can provide insight into the mechanism of ferroptosis and facilitate drug discovery. The classical ferroptosis inducers indirectly lead to lipid peroxidation; thus, it is difficult to explore lipid regulation during the ferroptotic process. In this study, we designed two quinazolinone-based lipophilic probes BODIQPy-TPA and QPy-TPA, which proved to directly induce lipid peroxidation by light irradiation in vitro. The probe BODIQPy-TPA, which was mainly distributed in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), specifically triggered ferroptosis in B16 and HepG2 cells upon light irradiation. As a comparison, the probe QPy-TPA, which was mainly distributed in lipid droplets (LDs), induced cell death by a nonferroptotic pathway. Further lipidomic analysis revealed that these two probes caused different patterns of lipid regulation and lipid peroxidation, suggesting that ferroptosis might activate distinct lipid regulation.

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis
  • Cell Death
  • Endoplasmic Reticulum
  • Ferroptosis*
  • Lipid Peroxidation
  • Lipids

Substances

  • Lipids