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World J Clin Oncol. Sep 24, 2023; 14(9): 324-334
Published online Sep 24, 2023. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v14.i9.324
Progress in the research of cuproptosis and possible targets for cancer therapy
Jiang Wang, Lan-Zhu Luo, Dao-Miao Liang, Chao Guo, Zhi-Hong Huang, Guo-Ying Sun, Jie Wen
Jiang Wang, Lan-Zhu Luo, Zhi-Hong Huang, Children Medical Center, Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China
Dao-Miao Liang, Chao Guo, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China
Guo-Ying Sun, Department of Histology and Embryology, Hunan Normal University School of Medicine, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China
Jie Wen, Department of Pediatric Orthopedics, Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China
Author contributions: Wang J and Luo LZ contributed equally to this study, and share joint first authorship; Wang J wrote the paper; Luo LZ and Liang DM did the literature review; Guo C and Huang ZH did the data analysis; Luo LZ conceived and coordinated the study; Sun GY and Wen J contributed equally to this study, and are joint corresponding authors; All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Scientific Research Project of Hunan Education Department, No. 21A0054.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jie Wen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Orthopedics, Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, No. 61 West Jiefang Rd, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China. cashwj@qq.com
Received: April 28, 2023
Peer-review started: April 28, 2023
First decision: July 28, 2023
Revised: August 5, 2023
Accepted: September 4, 2023
Article in press: September 4, 2023
Published online: September 24, 2023
Processing time: 144 Days and 17.4 Hours
Abstract

Developing novel cancer therapies that exploit programmed cell death pathways holds promise for advancing cancer treatment. According to a recently published study in Science, copper death (cuproptosis) occurs when intracellular copper is overloaded, triggering aggregation of lipidated mitochondrial proteins and Fe–S cluster proteins. This intriguing phenomenon is triggered by the instability of copper ions. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind cuproptosis and its associated genes, as identified by Tsvetkov, including ferredoxin 1, lipoic acid synthase, lipoyltransferase 1, dihydrolipid amide dehydrogenase, dihydrolipoamide transacetylase, pyruvate dehydrogenase α1, pyruvate dehydrogenase β, metallothionein, glutaminase, and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A, may open new avenues for cancer therapy. Here, we provide a new understanding of the role of copper death and related genes in cancer.

Keywords: Cuproptosis; Cuproptosis-related genes; Cancer; Targeted therapy

Core Tip: Developing novel cancer therapies that exploit programmed cell death pathways holds promise for advancing cancer treatment. Cuproptosis-related genes were identified by Tsvetkov, including ferredoxin 1, lipoic acid synthase, lipoyltransferase 1, dihydrolipid amide dehydrogenase, dihydrolipoamide transacetylase, pyruvate dehydrogenase α1, pyruvate dehydrogenase β, metallothionein, glutaminase, and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A. Here, we provide a new understanding of the role of copper death and related genes in cancer.