{
  "abstract": "B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy that still requires the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Here, leveraging a drug-repurposing strategy, we performed a high-throughput screen of 3008 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs and identified albendazole (ABZ), a benzimidazole anthelmintic, as a potent agent against B-ALL across multiple preclinical models. Mechanistically, ABZ directly binds ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) and triggers its autophagy-dependent destabilization, subsequently promoting the ubiquitin-proteasome-mediated degradation of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), thereby inducing ferroptosis in B-ALL. Our study revealed that USP7 directly interacts with and stabilizes GPX4 by removing K48-linked ubiquitin chains, and both proteins are markedly upregulated in B-ALL patients, correlating with poor survival. Collectively, we identify a previously unrecognized USP7-GPX4 axis that governs ferroptosis and show that ABZ, as a novel ferroptosis inducer, triggers ferroptosis by targeting this axis, supporting clinical repurposing of albendazole or therapeutic targeting of USP7-GPX4 to improve B-ALL outcomes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Hao Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tianwang Guan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xiaonan Lin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yingqi Qiu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zhongjie Huang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zhao Liang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Peiyun Liao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Honghao Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Caiwen Ou",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9515-6125"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yuhua Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0982-6680"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/efprwx65qp5hb.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s42003-026-11229-1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "efprwx65qp5hb",
  "issns": [
    "2399-3642"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11229-1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2740|Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223919216",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11229-1_reference.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/efprwx65qp5hb.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:50Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s42003-026-11229-1",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11229-1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2740|Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Albendazole induces ferroptosis through the USP7-GPX4 axis in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia",
  "title_text": "Albendazole induces ferroptosis through the USP7-GPX4 axis in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/efprwx65qp5hb",
  "venue": "Communications Biology",
  "versions": []
}