Demethylzeylasteral inhibits oxidative phosphorylation complex biogenesis by targeting LRPPRC in lung cancer

Targeted inhibition of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complex generation is an emerging and promising cancer treatment strategy, but limited targets and specific inhibitors have been reported. Leucine-rich pentatricopeptide repeat-containing protein (LRPPRC) is an atypical RNA-binding protein that regulates the stability of all 13 mitochondrial DNA-encoded mRNA (mt-mRNA) and thus participates in the synthesis of the OXPHOS complex. LRPPRC is also a prospective therapeutic target for lung adenocarcinoma, serving as a promising target for OXPHOS inhibition. In this study, we identified Demethylzeylasteral (T-96), a small molecule extracted from the Chinese herb