Membrane Transporters Involved in Iron Trafficking: Physiological and Pathological Aspects

Iron is an essential transition metal for its involvement in several crucial biological functions, the most notable being oxygen storage and transport. Due to high reactivity potential toxicity, intracellular extracellular iron levels must be tightly regulated. This achieved through transport systems that mediate cellular uptake efflux both at level of plasma membrane on membranes lysosomes, endosomes mitochondria. Among these systems, key players are ferroportin, only known transporter mediating from cells; DMT1, ZIP8 ZIP14, which contrary, influx into cytoplasm, acting lysosomes endosomes; mitoferrin, involved mitochondria heme synthesis Fe-S cluster assembly. The focus this review provide updated view physiological role proteins pathologies arise defects systems.