The Lipogenic Regulator SREBP2 Induces Transferrin in Circulating Melanoma Cells and Suppresses Ferroptosis

Circulating tumor cells (CTC) are shed by cancer into the bloodstream, where a viable subset overcomes oxidative stress to initiate metastasis. We show that single CTCs from patients with melanoma coordinately upregulate lipogenesis and iron homeostasis pathways. These are correlated with both intrinsic and acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors across clonal cultures of <i>BRAF</i>-mutant CTCs. The lipogenesis regulator SREBP2 directly induces transcription of the iron carrier Transferrin (<i>TF</i>), reducing intracellular iron pools, reactive oxygen species, and lipid peroxidation, thereby conferring resistance to inducers of ferroptosis. Knockdown of endogenous <i>TF</i> impairs tumor formation by melanoma CTCs, and their tumorigenic defects are partially rescued by the lipophilic antioxidants ferrostatin-1 and vitamin E. In a prospective melanoma cohort, presence of CTCs with high lipogenic and iron metabolic RNA signatures is correlated with adverse clinical outcome, irrespective of treatment regimen. Thus, SREBP2-driven iron homeostatic pathways contribute to cancer progression, drug resistance, and metastasis. SIGNIFICANCE: Through single-cell analysis of primary and cultured melanoma CTCs, we have uncovered intrinsic cancer cell heterogeneity within lipogenic and iron homeostatic pathways that modulates resistance to BRAF inhibitors and to ferroptosis inducers. Activation of these pathways within CTCs is correlated with adverse clinical outcome, pointing to therapeutic opportunities.<i>This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 521</i>.