Phospholipase PAFAH2 mediates ferroptosis surveillance and lipid remodeling to promote resistance in KEAP1 mutant cancers Journal Article


Authors: Ruiz, S. B.; Tylawsky, D. E.; Shah, J.; Saoi, M.; Cuevas, B.; Desai, S.; Racz, B.; Perea, A. M.; Izawa-Ishiguro, A. R.; Cross, J.; Heller, D. A.
Article Title: Phospholipase PAFAH2 mediates ferroptosis surveillance and lipid remodeling to promote resistance in KEAP1 mutant cancers
Abstract: Although ferroptosis resistance is prevalent among many cancer cell types, precisely how ferroptosis surveillance mechanisms are induced remains elusive due to the heterogeneity of the cellular mutational status and metabolic states. Here, we find that phospholipase PAFAH2 regulates ferroptosis through its unique ability to specifically detoxify membrane-bound oxidized phospholipids in KEAP1 mutant and NRF2-active cancer cells. We show that the genetic or chemical perturbation of PAFAH2 is sufficient to sensitize KEAP1 mutant lung adenocarcinoma cells to ferroptosis. Lipidomic analyses reveal that PAFAH2 inhibition shifts the cellular lipidome to a distinctly ferroptosis state characterized by the enrichment of key phospholipids previously identified to be important in ferroptosis, like ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamines. Finally, we comparatively assessed the antitumor efficacy of PAFAH2 inhibitor monotherapy versus cotreatment with a nanoparticle-stabilized GPX4 inhibitor formulation. Our findings support that the broad applicability of PAFAH2 inhibition can be used in ferroptosis induction and abrogation of ferroptosis resistance across cancer types. © 2025 American Chemical Society.
Keywords: genetics; mutation; metabolism; lung neoplasms; drug effect; drug resistance; drug resistance, neoplasm; cell line, tumor; lung tumor; tumor cell line; drug therapy; ferroptosis; kelch like ech associated protein 1; humans; human; kelch-like ech-associated protein 1; keap1 protein, human
Journal Title: ACS Chemical Biology
Volume: 20
Issue: 7
ISSN: 1554-8929
Publisher: American Chemical Society  
Publication status: Published
Date Published: 2025-07-18
Online Publication Date: 2025-01-01
Start Page: 1739
End Page: 1755
Language: English
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.5c00273
PUBMED: 40600963
PROVIDER: scopus
DOI/URL:
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledge in the PDF -- Corresponding authors is MSK author: Daniel A. Heller -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Justin Robert Cross
    114 Cross
  2. Daniel Alan Heller
    115 Heller
  3. Janki Kalpesh Shah
    24 Shah
  4. Michelle Saoi
    9 Saoi
  5. Stephen Borja Ruiz
    2 Ruiz
  6. Brandon Miguel Cuevas
    1 Cuevas
  7. Boglarka Racz
    1 Racz