DUBbing Ferroptosis in Cancer Cells.

Ferroptosis, a form of iron-dependent, nonapoptotic cell death that is induced by excessive lipid peroxidation, has been recently identified as a new tumor suppression mechanism. In this issue of Cancer Research, Liu and colleagues demonstrate that the deubiquitinase (DUB) OTUB1 is frequently overexpressed in human cancers, and functions to "dub" (trim) the ferroptosis process in cancer cells and promotes tumor development by stabilizing the cystine transporter, SLC7A11. This study not only reveals a hitherto unappreciated regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis but also identifies potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.See related article by Liu et al., p. 1913. ©2019 American Association for Cancer Research.