Veeckmans et al. demonstrate that ischemia-reperfusion injury triggers an early lipid peroxidation wave in human transplants. They further show that pharmacological ferroptosis inhibition with FXT-001 suppresses lipid radical propagation, modulates iron homeostasis, and improves liver and lung graft function in porcine and human perfusion models. The paper highlights an important application of ferroptosis inhibitors in lung and liver transplantation. It has been a long pursue of Tom Vanden Berghe to bring ferroptosis inhibitors to the clinic. This is an important step in that direction.
Veeckmans G, Devos L, Gilbo N, Van Beersel D, Scarpellini C, Blondeel J, Walravens M, Klejborowska G, Lanthier C, Wölk M, Müller S, Gaillet C, Colombeau L, Hassannia B, Längin M, Bender M, Abicht JM, Reichart B, De Winter H, Fedorova M, Rodriguez R, Pirenne J, Ceulemans LJ, Jochmans I, Augustyns K, Monbaliu D, Neyrinck A, Vanden Berghe T. Ferroptosis inhibition enhances liver and lung graft function.Cell. 2026 May 8:S0092-8674(26)00459-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.04.024. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42105762
