Iron, Copper, and Selenium: Cancer's Thing for Redox Bling
- 1Department of Pathology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- 2Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, New York 10016, USA
- Correspondence: Richard.Possemato{at}nyulangone.org; Erdem.Terzi{at}nyulangone.org
Abstract
Cells require micronutrients for numerous basic functions. Among these, iron, copper, and selenium are particularly critical for redox metabolism, and their importance is heightened during oncogene-driven perturbations in cancer. In this review, which particularly focuses on iron, we describe how these micronutrients are carefully chaperoned about the body and made available to tissues, a process that is designed to limit the toxicity of free iron and copper or by-products of selenium metabolism. We delineate perturbations in iron metabolism and iron-dependent proteins that are observed in cancer, and describe the current approaches being used to target iron metabolism and iron-dependent processes.