Two Nature Studies Show FSP1 Blockade Triggers Ferroptosis and Shrinks Tumors in Mice

Preclinical findings highlight a context‑dependent vulnerability, with inhibitors still requiring optimization before clinical testing.

Overview

Harvard-led research found melanoma cells in lymph nodes become dependent on FSP1, and delivering novel inhibitors to mouse lymph‑node tumors sharply reduced growth.
An NYU-led study reported that deleting FSP1 or treating with the experimental inhibitor icFSP1 reduced lung adenocarcinoma tumor burden in mice by up to about 80% and improved survival.
Both teams used in vivo mouse models and combined genetic and pharmacologic approaches to induce ferroptosis, a regulated cell death driven by iron‑dependent lipid peroxidation.
In lung cancer, FSP1 appeared to play a larger role than GPX4 in blocking ferroptosis, and higher FSP1 expression correlated with poorer survival in human LUAD datasets.
The FSP1 compounds originated from academic labs at Helmholtz Munich and UC Berkeley, with several authors listed as inventors and two disclosed as co‑founders and shareholders of ROSCUE Therapeutics.