GSE184138
Homeostasis imbalance of YY2 and YY1 promotes tumor growth by manipulating ferroptosis
Ferroptosis is a type of programmed cell death caused by disruption of redox homeostasis, and is closely linked to amino acid metabolism. Yin Yang 2 (YY2) and its homolog Yin Yang 1 (YY1) are members of the YY family with high homology, especially in their zinc-finger domains. Furthermore, they share consensus DNA binding motif. In contrast with the oncogenic YY1, increasing evidences have demonstrated the tumor suppressive effect of YY2; however, at present, little is known about its biological and pathological functions. Here we found that YY2 induces tumor cells ferroptosis and subsequently, suppresses tumorigenesis, by inhibiting SLC7A11 transcription, leading to the decreased glutathione biosynthesis. Furthermore, we reveal that YY2 and YY1 bind competitively to SLC7A11 promoter and antagonistically regulate tumor cells ferroptosis, thus suggesting the molecular mechanism underlying their opposite regulation on tumorigenesis. Moreover, we showed that mutations of YY2 zinc-finger domains in clinical cancer patients abrogated YY2/SLC7A11 axis and tumor cells ferroptosis. Together, these results provide a new insight regarding the regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis, and a mechanistic explanation regarding the tumor suppressive effect of YY2. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that homeostasis between YY1 and YY2 is crucial for maintaining redox homeostasis in tumor cells. Overall design: 6 samples