Mitochondrial ROS-induced metabolic alterations differentially regulate ferroptosis sensitivity

Ferroptosis is an iron-catalyzed lipid peroxidation (LP)-dependent cell death. Induction of mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) is crucial in the execution of ferroptosis, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Through utilizing the hepatocyte model and RNA-seq analysis, we determined mtROS-dependent metabolic changes that modulate ferroptosis sensitivity. Elevated mtROS production and LP suppressed glycolysis, fatty acid oxidation, and citric acid cycle activity, representing adaptive responses that protect cells from ferroptosis. On the other hand, mtROS-driven signaling impaired glutathione biosynthesis and downregulated genes involved in coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) biosynthesis, including those in the mevalonate pathway and CoQ8A, a key stabilizer of the CoQ biosynthetic complex. Importantly, silencing CoQ8A expression enhanced, whereas overexpression of CoQ8A reduced, ferroptosis susceptibility of hepatocytes and various cancer cell types. The mtROS-mediated downregulation of CoQ8A was dependent on farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). Collectively, our findings highlight that mtROS promotes ferroptosis, at least in part, by suppressing glutathione and CoQ biosynthesis.