Erastin, named for
eradicator of
RAS and small T
(ST) antigen-expressing cells, is a ferroptosis inducer.
1 It induces ferroptotic cell death
in vitro, an effect that can be blocked by the ferroptosis inhibitors ciclopirox olamine, Trolox (Item No.
10011659), ferrostatin-1 (Item No.
17729), U-0126 (Item No.
70970), cycloheximide (Item No.
14126), and β-mercaptoethanol. Erastin (5 μM) inhibits cystine uptake by the system x
c- cystine-glutamate transporter in HT-1080 fibrosarcoma and Calu-1 lung carcinoma cells and inhibits glutamate release in an enzyme-coupled fluorescence assay (EC
50 = 1.2 μM). It also selectively induces cell death in cells expressing the SV40 small T oncoprotein and oncogenic Ras (IC
50s = 1.25-5 μg/ml).
2