Cell death is one of the most important mechanisms of maintaining homeostasis in our body. Ferroptosis and pyroptosis are forms of necrosis-like cell death. These cell death modalities play key roles in the pathophysiology of cancer, cardiovascular, neurological diseases, and other pathologies. Transition metals are abundant group of elements in all living organisms. This paper presents a summary of ferroptosis and pyroptosis pathways and their connection to significant transition metals, namely zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), lead (Pb), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), uranium (U), platinum (Pt), and one crucial element, selenium (Se). Authors aim to summarize the up-to-date knowledge of this topic.In this review, there are categorized and highlighted the most common patterns in the alterations of ferroptosis and pyroptosis by transition metals. Special attention is given to zinc since collected data support its dual nature of action in both ferroptosis and pyroptosis. All findings are presented together with a brief description of major biochemical pathways involving mentioned metals and are visualized in attached comprehensive figures.This work concludes that the majority of disruptions in the studied metals' homeostasis impacts cell fate, influencing both death and survival of cells in the complex system of altered pathways. Therefore, this summary opens up the space for further research.

1st Faculty of Medicine BIOCEV Charles University Prumyslova 595 Vestec CZ 252 50 Czech Republic

Department of Pathological Physiology Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Kamenice 5 Brno CZ 625 00 Czech Republic

Department of Physiology Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Kamenice 5 Brno CZ 625 00 Czech Republic

Regional Centre for Applied Molecular Oncology Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute Zluty kopec 7 Brno 656 53 Czech Republic

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