Ferroptosis is a type of regulated cell death induced by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, which is tightly regulated by metabolism. Lactate is a byproduct of glycolysis that regulates energy, fatty acid metabolism, and redox homeostasis as a fuel or signaling molecule. The role of lactate in ferroptosis occurs under different contexts. Lactate promotes ferroptosis under non-tumoral conditions, whereas in the tumor microenvironment, it can lead to tumor cell resistance to ferroptosis, thereby promoting tumor proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance. The specific molecular mechanisms underlying lactate-regulated ferroptosis involve polyunsaturated fatty acids metabolism, antioxidant systems, iron metabolism, and mitochondrial function by lactate or lactate-induced lactylation. In addition, nanomaterials containing LOX and/or inhibition of MCTs may be used to enhance tumor cell ferroptosis in various cancers by targeting lactate metabolism. In this review, we systematically summarize the role and mechanism of lactate in ferroptosis regulation in pathophysiology, particularly in tumor progression and therapy, which provides a new perspective on tumor progression and therapy.

The long-term high-fat diet (HFD) can cause myocardial lipotoxicity, which is characterized pathologically by myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis, and remodeling and clinically by cardiac dysfunction and heart failure in patients with obesity and diabetes. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of noncoding RNA characterized by a ring formation through covalent bonds, play a critical role in various cardiovascular diseases. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the role and mechanism of circRNA in myocardial lipotoxicity. Here, we found that circ_005077, formed by exon 2–4 of Crmp1, was significantly upregulated in the myocardium of an HFD-fed rat. Furthermore, we identified circ_005077 as a novel ferroptosis-related regulator that plays a role in palmitic acid (PA) and HFD-induced myocardial lipotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, circ_005077 interacted with Cyclophilin A (CyPA) and inhibited its degradation via the ubiquitination proteasome system (UBS), thus promoting the interaction between CyPA and p47phox to enhance the activity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase responsible for ROS generation, subsequently inducing ferroptosis. Therefore, our results provide new insights into the mechanisms of myocardial lipotoxicity, potentially leading to the identification of a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of myocardial lipotoxicity in the future.

The dysregulation of alternative splicing (AS) is frequently found in cancer and considered as key markers for cancer progression and therapy. Transformer 2 (TRA2), a nuclear RNA binding protein, consists of transformer 2 alpha homolog (TRA2A) and transformer 2 beta homolog (TRA2B), and plays a role in the regulation of pre-mRNA splicing. Growing evidence has been provided that TRA2A and TRA2B are dysregulated in several types of tumors, and participate in the regulation of proliferation, migration, invasion, and chemotherapy resistance in cancer cells through alteration of AS of cancer-related genes. In this review, we highlight the role of TRA2 in tumorigenesis and metastasis, and discuss potential molecular mechanisms how TRA2 influences tumorigenesis and metastasis via controlling AS of pre-mRNA. We propose that TRA2Ais a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for cancer progression and therapy.

Background: The proto‐oncogene ROS1 encodes an intrinsic type I membrane protein of the tyrosine kinase/insulin receptor family. ROS1 facilitates the progression of various malignancies via self‐mutations or rearrangements. Studies on ROS1‐directed tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been conducted, and some have been approved by the FDA for clinical use. However, the adverse effects and mechanisms of resistance associated with ROS1 inhibitors remain unknown. In addition, next‐generation ROS1 inhibitors, which have the advantage of treating central nervous system metastases and alleviating endogenous drug resistance, are still in the clinical trial stage.Method: In this study, we searched relevant articles reporting the mechanism and clinical application of ROS1 in recent years; systematically reviewed the biological mechanisms, diagnostic methods, and research progress on ROS1 inhibitors; and provided perspectives for the future of ROS1‐targeted therapy.Results: ROS1 is most expressed in malignant tumours. Only a few ROS1 kinase inhibitors are currently approved for use in NSCLC, the efficacy of other TKIs for NSCLC and other malignancies has not been ascertained. There is no effective standard treatment for adverse events or resistance to ROS1‐targeted therapy. Next‐generation TKIs appear capable of overcoming resistance and delaying central nervous system metastasis, but with a greater incidence of adverse effects.Conclusions: Further research on next‐generation TKIs regarding the localization of ROS1 and its fusion partners, binding sites for targeted drugs, and coadministration with other drugs is required. The correlation between TKIs and chemotherapy or immunotherapy in clinical practice requires further study.