Mitochondrial ferritin (MtF) is structurally and functionally similar to the cytosolic ferritins, molecules designed to store and detoxify cellular iron. MtF expression in human and mouse is restricted to the testis and few tissues, and it is abundant in the erythroblasts of patients with sideroblastic anemia, where it is thought to protect the mitochondria from the damage caused by iron loadin...

Red cell ferritin was measured in normal subjects and patients with disorders of iron metabolism, inflammation, liver dysfunction, impaired hemoglobin synthesis, and increased red cell turnover by means of radioimmunoassays with antibodies to liver (basic) and heart (acidic) ferritins. The normal mean values for basic and acidic ferritin were 8.9 and 22.7 altogram (ag)/cell, respectively. The r...

BACKGROUND Human iron status is influenced by environmental and genetic factors. We hypothesized that the genetic polymorphism of haptoglobin (Hp), a hemoglobin-binding plasma protein, could affect iron status. METHODS Reference values of serum iron status markers were compared according to Hp phenotypes (Hp 1-1, Hp 2-1, Hp 2-2; determined by starch gel electrophoresis) in 717 healthy adults....

The ubiquitously expressed iron storage protein ferritin plays a central role in maintaining cellular iron homeostasis. Cytosolic ferritins are composed of heavy (H) and light (L) subunits that co-assemble into a hollow spherical shell with an internal cavity where iron is stored. The ferroxidase activity of the ferritin H chain is critical to store iron in its Fe3+ oxidation state, while the L...

and spleen systems cannot be attributed to lack of precision of the assays (p = 0.01). We analyzedpurifiedliverferritin at several concentrations by immunoradiometric assay, using the spleen system, and similarly analyzed purified spleen fernitin, using the liver system. When theresultsforthepurifiedferntins were plotted along with the standards used in the analyses, the two fernitins appeared ...

We have investigated the reaction products of several iron(III) compounds with hydrogen peroxide, and have found that hydrogen peroxide promotes the formation of an oxo-bridged iron(III) species in the presence of methanol (electron donor), and carboxyl groups of the ligand systems play a role to give the tetranuclear iron(III) compound containing a bent Fe-O-Fe unit (O: oxo oxygen atom). Based...

Copper can be found in the environment at concentrations ranging from a shortage up to the threshold of toxicity for plants, with optimal growth conditions situated in between. The plant stem plays a central role in transferring and distributing minerals, water and other solutes throughout the plant. In this study, alfalfa is exposed to different levels of copper availability, from deficiency t...

Elevated serum ferritin levels without a corresponding increase in tissue iron storage have been observed in patients with certain cancers. Increased synthesis of ferritin by cancer cells has also been reported. In order to see whether similar phenomena occurred in patients with neuroblastoma, we have screened serum ferritin levels in 58 children with neuroblastoma by counterelectrophoresis usi...

To support the case for a biological applicability of previous experiments performed on chemically prepared apoferritin, its hydrodynamic and circular dichroic properties were compared to those of tissue-endogenous apoferritin. The molecular weights and sedimentation coefficients of the two differently prepared apoferritins were identical. Similarly, their circular dichroic spectra between 310 ...