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Targeting Ferroptosis as a Therapeutic Implication in Lung Cancer Treatment by a Novel Naphthoquinone Inducer: Juglone

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Abstract

Lung cancer has garnered significant global attention as a result of its escalating rates of mortality and morbidity, necessitating focused interventions to mitigate its impact. The primary aim of this work was to investigate the anticancer activity of juglone in A549 cells, specifically focusing on its role in mediating ferroptosis. We conducted an investigation involving a range of cytotoxic and morphological assays, such as cell viability assay, fluorescence microscopic analysis, flow cytometry, and ROS assay. The findings demonstrated that the cytotoxicity of juglone was around 18.5 μM. Furthermore, the chemical was found to promote apoptotic activity as observed through fluorescent microscopic inspection and morphological analysis. In addition, the levels of ROS, MDA, GSH, ferrous iron, and colony formation study demonstrated a significant increase, indicating a correlation with the occurrence of ferroptosis. Hence, juglone exhibits promise as a prospective therapeutic drug in the treatment of lung cancer. Therefore, we put forward that the utilization of ferroptosis as a therapeutic approach for lung cancer may yield significant efficacy and warrants further investigation in subsequent studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Cangzhou Central Hospital, Cangzhou, Hebei Province, 061000, China

    Junfeng Du

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Hindusthan College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, India

    Kavithaa Krishnamoorthy

  3. Department of Food Processing Technology, Academy of Maritime Education and Training (AMET) Deemed to be University, Chennai, India

    Veerapandiyan Ramabhai

  4. Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sunshine Union Hospital, Weifang, Shandong Province, 261000, China

    Dianxi Yang

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  1. Junfeng Du
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  2. Kavithaa Krishnamoorthy
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JD and DY— involved in manuscript preparation and working the scientific part of the manuscript. DY framed the work and revised the manuscript for submission.

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Correspondence to Dianxi Yang.

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Du, J., Krishnamoorthy, K., Ramabhai, V. et al. Targeting Ferroptosis as a Therapeutic Implication in Lung Cancer Treatment by a Novel Naphthoquinone Inducer: Juglone. Mol Biotechnol 66, 1071–1081 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-023-01004-6

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