Lysosomal lipid peroxidation mediates immunogenic cell death.

Cancer cells rely on lysosome-dependent degradation to recycle nutrients that serve their energetic and biosynthetic needs. Despite great interest in repurposing the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine as a lysosomal inhibitor in clinical oncology trials, the mechanisms by which hydroxychloroquine and other lysosomal inhibitors induce tumor-cell cytotoxicity remain unclear. In this issue of the JCI, Bhardwaj et al. demonstrate that DC661, a dimeric form of chloroquine that inhibits palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1), promoted lysosomal lipid peroxidation, resulting in lysosomal membrane permeabilization and tumor cell death. Remarkably, this lysosomal cell death pathway elicited cell-intrinsic immunogenicity and promoted T lymphocyte-mediated tumor cell clearance. The findings provide the mechanistic foundation for the potential combined use of immunotherapy and lysosomal inhibition in clinical trials.

The Role of Acetyl Zingerone and Its Derivatives in Inhibiting UV-Induced, Incident, and Delayed Cyclobutane Pyrimidine Dimers.

Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) are ultraviolet radiation (UV)-induced carcinogenic DNA photoproducts that lead to UV signature mutations in melanoma. Previously, we discovered that, in addition to their incident formation (iCPDs), UV exposure induces melanin chemiexcitation (MeCh), where UV generates peroxynitrite (ONOO-), which oxidizes melanin into melanin-carbonyls (MCs) in their excited triplet state. Chronic MeCh and energy transfer by MCs to DNA generates CPDs for several hours after UV exposure ends (dark CPD, dCPDs). We hypothesized that MeCh and the resulting dCPDs can be inhibited using MeCh inhibitors, and MC and ONOO- scavengers. Here, we investigated the efficacy of Acetyl Zingerone (AZ), a plant-based phenolic alkanone, and its chemical analogs in inhibiting iCPDs and dCPDs in skin fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and isogenic pigmented and albino melanocytes. While AZ and its methoxy analog, 3-(4-Methoxy-benzyl)-Pentane-2,4-dione (MBPD) completely inhibited the dCPDs, MBPD also inhibited ~50% of iCPDs. This suggests the inhibition of ~80% of total CPDs at any time point post UV exposure by MBPD, which is markedly significant. MBPD downregulated melanin synthesis, which is indispensable for dCPD generation, but this did not occur with AZ. Meanwhile, AZ and MBPD both upregulated the expression of nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathways genes including Xpa, Xpc, and Mitf. AZ and its analogs were non-toxic to the skin cells and did not act as photosensitizers. We propose that AZ and MBPD represent "next-generation skin care additives" that are safe and effective for use not only in sunscreens but also in other specialized clinical applications owing to their extremely high efficacy in blocking both iCPDs and dCPDs.