Targeting stearoyl-coa desaturase enhances radiation induced ferroptosis and immunogenic cell death in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Overcoming resistance to radiation is a major challenge in cancer treatment. Stearoyl-coa desaturase (SCD1) is the enzyme responsible for oleic acid (OA) and palmitoleic acid (POA) formation. Here, we provided evidence that targeting SCD1 was capable of inducing ferroptosis and immunogenic cell death (ICD), thereby improving the radiation sensitivity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). ESCC cell lines with high SCD1 expression were treated with MF-438 (SCD1 inhibitor) to determine cell viability. Colony formation assay was performed to evaluate the radiation sensitization of SCD1 inhibitor. Tumor cell ferroptosis and ICD was analyzed in MF-438, radiation therapy (RT) and the combination treatment group. The potential molecular mechanisms underlying MF-438 as a novel radiation sensitizer in ESCC were explored. We concluded by assessing SCD1 as a prognostic factor in ESCC. MF-438 exhibited antitumor activity in ESCC cells. Our outcomes revealed significant improvement of radiation sensitivity by MF-438. Moreover, the combination treatment enhanced tumor cell ferroptosis and ICD. Further analyses revealed SCD1 conferred radiation resistance via alleviating ferroptosis in tumor cells; targeting SCD1 inhibited the biosynthesis of OA and POA, and improved radiation induced ferroptosis in ESCC cells. Clinical analysis indicated high expression of SCD1 was associated with unfavorable survival in patients of ESCC. In summary, our results demonstrated that MF-438 acted as a ferroptosis inducer. Targeting SCD1 conferred the immunogenicity of ferroptotic cancer cells and increased the effectiveness of RT in ESCC. SCD1 could be considered as a useful prognostic indicator of survival in ESCC.