Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent malignant
tumor worldwide. Ferroptosis is emerging as an effective target for
tumor treatment as it has been shown to potentiate cell death in some
malignancies. However, it remains unclear whether
histone phosphorylation events, an epigenetic mechanism that regulates transcriptional expression, are involved in ferroptosis. Our study found that supplementation with
anisomycin, an agonist of
p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), induced ferroptosis in HCC cells, and the phosphorylation of
histone H3 on
serine 10 (p-H3S10) was participated in
anisomycin-induced ferroptosis. To investigate the anticancer effects of
anisomycin-activated
p38 MAPK in HCC, we analyzed cell viability, colony formation, cell death, and cell migration in Hep3B and HCCLM3 cells. The results showed that
anisomycin could significantly suppress HCC cell colony formation and migration and induce HCC cell death. The hallmarks of ferroptosis, such as abnormal accumulation of
iron and elevated levels of lipid peroxidation and
malondialdehyde, were detected to confirm the ability of
anisomycin to promote ferroptosis. Furthermore, coincubation with
SB203580, an inhibitor of activated
p38 MAPK, partially rescued
anisomycin-induced ferroptosis. And the levels of p-p38 MAPK and p-H3S10 were successively increased by
anisomycin treatment. The relationship between p-H3S10 and ferroptosis was revealed by ChIP sequencing. The reverse transcription PCR and immunofluorescence results showed that NCOA4 was upregulated both in
mRNA and
protein levels after
anisomycin treatment. And by C11-BODIPY staining, we found that
anisomycin-induced
lipid reactive oxygen species was reduced after NCOA4 knockdown. In conclusion, the
anisomycin-activated
p38 MAPK promoted ferroptosis of HCC cells through H3S10 phosphorylation.