Iron-sulphur clusters are one of the most common types of redox centre in biology. At least six proteins (IscS, IscU, IscA, HscB, HscA and ferredoxin) have been identified as being essential for the biogenesis of iron-sulphur proteins in bacteria. It has been shown that IscS is a cysteine desulphurase that provides sulphur for iron-sulphur clusters, and that IscU is a scaffold for the IscS-medi...

BACKGROUND/AIM Iron is a vital constituent of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and some mitochondrial enzymes; therefore, body iron deficiency may result in reduced aerobic capacity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of daily oral iron supplementation on body iron status, and the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) in female athletes with latent iron deficiency, as well as with iron-deficiency...

Escherichia coli contains at least two iron storage proteins, a ferritin (FtnA) and a bacterioferritin (Bfr). To investigate their specific functions, the corresponding genes (ftnA and bfr) were inactivated by replacing the chromosomal ftnA and bfr genes with disrupted derivatives containing antibiotic resistance cassettes in place of internal segments of the corresponding coding regions. Singl...

The formation of DNA-strand breaks was studied in cultured human lung cells (A 549) subjected to iron, either in the form of iron(III) citrate or in combination with the metal chelators ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), nitrilo triacetic acid (NTA), or 8-hydroxyquinoline (8HQ). After 15 min exposure to 5 microM iron(III) citrate or iron chelate, the cellular levels of iron were found t...

Kinetics of radioactive iron transport from three structurally different secondary hydroxamate-iron chelates (schizokinen-iron, produced by Bacillus megaterium ATCC 19213; Desferal-iron, produced by an actinomycete; and aerobactin-iron, produced by Aerobacter aerogenes 62-1) revealed that B. megaterium SK11 (a mutant which cannot synthesize schizokinen) has a specific transport system for utili...

Astrocytes are considered key regulators of the iron metabolism of the brain. These cells are able to rapidly accumulate iron ions and various iron-containing compounds, store iron efficiently in ferritin and also export iron. The present short review summarizes our current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms involved in the handling of iron by astrocytes. Cultured astrocytes efficiently take...

Iron storage in yeast requires the activity of the vacuolar iron transporter Ccc1. Yeast with an intact CCC1 are resistant to iron toxicity, but deletion of CCC1 renders yeast susceptible to iron toxicity. We used genetic and biochemical analysis to identify suppressors of high iron toxicity in Δccc1 cells to probe the mechanism of high iron toxicity. All genes identified as suppressors of high...

We investigated the relation between maternal anaemia and neonatal iron status in 97 mothers and their babies. Haemoglobin (Hb), serum iron, total iron binding capacity and serum ferritin were determined. Mothers were divided into 3 groups: iron-deficient anaemic (22.7%), non-anaemic iron-deficient (27.8%) and non-anaemic non-iron-deficient (49.5%). There was no significant difference in the me...

BACKGROUND Plasma non-transferrin bound iron refers to heterogeneous plasma iron species, not bound to transferrin, which appear in conditions of iron overload and ineffective erythropoiesis. The clinical utility of non-transferrin bound iron in predicting complications from iron overload, or response to chelation therapy remains unproven. We undertook carefully timed measurements of non-transf...

Regular packed cell transfusion in patients with thalassemia major leads to iron overload. Chelation therapy is one of the important aspects of thalassemia care as iron overload causes significant cardiac, hepatic, and endocrine dysfunction. We report a case of thalassemia major with severe iron overload causing cardiac and liver dysfunction who benefitted from triple drug chelation therapy. Tr...