Lipids are essential components of cancer cells due to their structural and signalling roles1. To meet metabolic demands, many cancers take up extracellular lipids2,3,4,5; however, how these lipids contribute to cancer growth and progression remains poorly understood. Here, using functional genetic screens, we identify uptake of lipoproteins—the primary mechanism for lipid transport in circulation—as a key determinant of ferroptosis sensitivity in cancer. Lipoprotein supplementation robustly inhibits ferroptosis across diverse cancer types, primarily through the delivery of α-tocopherol (α-toc), the most abundant form of vitamin E in human lipoproteins. Mechanistically, cancer cells take up lipoproteins through a pathway dependent on sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) linked to cell-surface proteoglycans. Disrupting GAG biosynthesis or acutely degrading surface GAGs reduces lipoprotein uptake, sensitizes cancer cells to ferroptosis and impairs tumour growth in mice. Notably, human clear cell renal cell carcinomas—a lipid-rich malignancy—exhibit elevated levels of chondroitin sulfate and increased lipoprotein-derived α-toc compared with normal kidney tissue. Together, our study establishes lipoprotein uptake as a critical anti-ferroptotic mechanism in cancer and implicates GAG biosynthesis as a therapeutic target.
Calhoon, D., Sang, L., Ji, F. et al. Glycosaminoglycan-driven lipoprotein uptake protects tumours from ferroptosis.
Nature (2025).
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Calhoon, D., Sang, L., Ji, F. et al. Glycosaminoglycan-driven lipoprotein uptake protects tumours from ferroptosis.
Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09162-0
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Tags: cancer cell sensitivity to ferroptosiscancer lipid metabolism mechanismschondroitin sulfate in renal cell carcinomaextracellular lipid uptake in tumorsferroptosis resistance in cancer cellsglycosaminoglycan role in cancer metabolismlipid-rich malignancies and treatment strategieslipoprotein uptake and cancer progressionproteoglycans and cancer growththerapeutic targets for cancer treatmentunderstanding lipid transport in cancerα-tocopherol delivery in tumors
