Regulation of NCOA4-mediated iron recycling ameliorates paraquat-induced lung injury by inhibiting ferroptosis

Paraquat (PQ) is an irreplaceable insecticide in many countries for the advantage of fast-acting and broad-spectrum. However, PQ was classified as the most prevailing poisoning substance for suicide with no specific antidote. Therefore, it is imperative to develop more effective therapeutic agents for the treatment of PQ poisoning. In the present study, both the RNA-Seq and the application of various cell death inhibitors reflected that ferroptosis exerts a crucial regulatory role in PQ poisoning. Moreover, we found PQ strengthens lipid peroxidation as evidenced by different experimental approaches. Of note, pretreatment of iron chelation agent DFO could ameliorate the ferroptotic cell death and alleviate the ferroptosis-related events. Mechanistically, PQ treatment intensively impaired mitochondrial homeostasis, enhanced phosphorylation of AMPK, accelerated the autophagy flux and triggered the activation of Nuclear receptor coactivator 4-ferritin heavy chain (NCOA4-FTH) axis. Importantly, the activation of autophagy was observed prior to the degradation of ferritin, and inhibition of autophagy could inhibit the accumulation of iron caused by the ferritinophagy process. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of ferritinophagy could alleviate the lethal oxidative events, and rescue the ferroptotic cell death. Excitingly, in the mouse models of PQ poisoning, both the administration of DFO and adeno-associated virus-mediated FTH overexpression significantly reduced PQ-induced ferroptosis and improved the pathological characteristics of pulmonary fibrosis. In summary, the current work provides an in-depth study on the mechanism of PQ intoxication, describes a framework for the further understanding of ferroptosis in PQ-associated biological processes, and demonstrates modulation of iron metabolism may act as a promising therapeutic agent for the management of PQ toxicity. Graphical Abstract