Melanoma bone metastasis-induced osteocyte ferroptosis via the HIF1α-HMOX1 axis

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Yewei Jia - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Rui Li - , Renji Hospital (Author)
  • Yixuan Li - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Katerina Kachler - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Xianyi Meng - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Andreas Gießl - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Yi Qin - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Fulin Zhang - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Ning Liu - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Darja Andreev - , Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Georg Schett - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Aline Bozec - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)

Abstract

Osteocytes are the main cells in mineralized bone tissue. Elevated osteocyte apoptosis has been observed in lytic bone lesions of patients with multiple myeloma. However, their precise contribution to bone metastasis remains unclear. Here, we investigated the pathogenic mechanisms driving melanoma-induced osteocyte death. Both in vivo models and in vitro assays were combined with untargeted RNA sequencing approaches to explore the pathways governing melanoma-induced osteocyte death. We could show that ferroptosis is the primary mechanism behind osteocyte death in the context of melanoma bone metastasis. HMOX1 was identified as a crucial regulatory factor in this process, directly involved in inducing ferroptosis and affecting osteocyte viability. We uncover a non-canonical pathway that involves excessive autophagy-mediated ferritin degradation, highlighting the complex relationship between autophagy and ferroptosis in melanoma-induced osteocyte death. In addition, HIF1α pathway was shown as an upstream regulator, providing a potential target for modulating HMOX1 expression and influencing autophagy-dependent ferroptosis. In conclusion, our study provides insight into the pathogenic mechanisms of osteocyte death induced by melanoma bone metastasis, with a specific focus on ferroptosis and its regulation. This would enhance our comprehension of melanoma-induced osteocyte death.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number9
JournalBone research
Volume13
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jan 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC11735842
Scopus 85218273908

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

Keywords

  • Ferroptosis, Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism, Osteocytes/pathology, Melanoma/pathology, Bone Neoplasms/secondary, Heme Oxygenase-1/metabolism, Cell Line, Tumor, Autophagy, Signal Transduction