Linc01833 drives gemcitabine resistance in non-small cell lung cancer by shielding SLC7A11 from WWP1-mediated ubiquitination and inhibiting ferroptosis

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common form of lung cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. The RNA binding protein Quaking-5 (QKI-5) has been established as a tumor suppressor in NSCLC. Inducing ferroptosis is regarded as an effective therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment, and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays a critical role in the regulation of ferroptosis. However, the relationship between QKI-5-regulated lncRNA and ferroptosis remains uncharacterized in NSCLC. In this study, we discovered that QKI-5 downregulates the oncogenic lncRNA linc01833, which inhibits ferroptosis and promotes NSCLC progression by activating SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway. Mechanistically, QKI-5 negatively regulates the stability of linc01833, leading to increased linc01833 expression in NSCLC. Silencing linc01833 enhanced WW domain-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (WWP1)-mediated ubiquitination of SLC7A11, resulting in decreased SLC7A11 expression, while overexpression of linc01833 produced the opposite effect. Further analyses demonstrated that linc01833 diminished the anti-tumor effect of gemcitabine (GEM) in NSCLC both in vivo and in vitro . Additionally, knocking down linc01833 or SLC7A11 is able to inhibit GEM resistant NSCLC growth. Our findings suggest that targeting linc01833 to induce ferroptosis could enhance the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic agents and may serve as an effective therapeutic strategy for some NSCLC patients.