Hangyi Wu

1 Introduction Copper is an essential trace element in the cellular metabolic process. Recently, a Cu-dependent cell death pathway, “cuproptosis”, was first defined and reported by Tsvetkov et al. and rapidly became a research hotspot.[1-3] Unlike other cell death pathways, such as necroptosis, pyroptosis and ferroptosis, cuproptosis is characterized by intracellular Cu overload, which induces robust cellular dysfunctions.

1 Introduction Cuproptosis, a unique form of cell death, has been elucidated recently, which is distinct from other well-known cell death pathways such as necroptosis, apoptosis, and ferroptosis.[1-3] It is initiated by a copper overload and lipoylated components of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, leading to lipoylated protein aggregation and the disappearance of Fe-S cluster proteins, thereby resulting in proteotoxic stress for cell death.[4-6] Cuproptosis is a copper-dependent pathway, and...