Potential ferroptosis pathway in pathogenic fungi: reported functions and future perspectives

Abstract:

Ferroptosis is a new type of programmed cell death, in which elevated level of intracellular iron results in accumulation of lipid peroxides to a lethal level. At present, the functions and regulatory mechanisms of ferroptosis have been widely and extensively investigated in animal (including human) cells, but have just started and in a rather primary stage in fungal cells. In this review article, we aim to discuss the reported biological functions of the fungal orthologs to the regulatory factors involved in ferroptosis, including iron homeostasis, anti-oxidant systems of membrane lipids, and enzyme-catalyzed lipid peroxidation. Overall we infer that ferroptosis may also exist in fungi and be involved in fungal pathogenicity, therefore ferroptosis pathway would potentially be a novel target for prevention and management of fungal diseases.