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OPINION
The potential of using the bioluminescent system of Chaetopterus variopedatus to study ferroptosis in living organisms
1 Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia
2 Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Aleksandr S. Shcheglov
Miklouho-Maclay, 16/10, Moscow, 117997; ur.liam@trakuj
Funding: the study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project 18-74-10102).
Acknowledgements: the authors thank the Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine (Moscow) for their help.
Author contribution: Shcheglov AS — study conception, literature analysis, manuscript preparation; Tsarkova AS — literature analysis, manuscript preparation.
Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death associated with iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Novel ferroptosis inducers and suppressors could be instrumental in developing drugs against neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. Prior to embarking on a search for ferroptosis inducers/suppressors, this form of cell death must be studied in living cells and laboratory animals. In addition to two cofactors, luciferase (or photoprotein) of the parchment tubeworm Chaetopterus variopedatus requires the presence of iron ions and hydrogen peroxide or organic hydroperoxides to exert its activity. Therefore, the bioluminescence system of the parchment tubeworm can be used to study ferroptosis in living organisms.
Keywords: lipid peroxidation, bioluminescence, bioimaging, luciferin, luciferase, biomedical research, ferroptosis, parchment worm, Chaetopterus