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Mitochondrial enzyme found to block cell death pathway points to new cancer treatment strategy
The mitochondrial enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) plays an important and previously unknown role in blocking a form of cell death called ferroptosis, according to a new study published today in Nature by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Preclinical findings suggest that targeting DHODH can restore ferroptosis-driven cell death, pointing to new therapeutic strategies that may be used to induce ferroptosis and inhibit tumor growth.
“By understanding ferroptosis and how cells defend against it, we can develop therapeutic strategies to block those defense mechanisms and trigger cell death,” said senior author Boyi Gan, Ph.D., associate professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology. “We have discovered that DHODH plays a key role in defending against ferroptosis and shown that we can exploit this vulnerability with clinically tested