Ferritin, an iron homeostasis protein, has important functions in transition and storage of toxic metal ions. In this study, the full-length cDNA of ferritin was isolated from Dendrorhynchus zhejiangensis by cDNA library and RACE approaches. The higher similarity and conserved motifs for ferritin were also identified in worm counterparts, indicating that it belonged to a new member of ferritin ...

PURPOSE The iron storage protein ferritin is necessary for the safe storage of iron and for protection against the production of iron-catalyzed oxidative damage. Ferritin is composed of 24 subunits of two types: heavy (H) and light (L). The ratio of these subunits is tissue specific, and alteration of this ratio can have profound effects on iron storage and availability. In the present study, s...

Iron sequestration by host iron-binding proteins is an important mechanism of resistance to microbial infections. Inside oral epithelial cells, iron is stored within ferritin, and is therefore not usually accessible to pathogenic microbes. We observed that the ferritin concentration within oral epithelial cells was directly related to their susceptibility to damage by the human pathogenic fungu...

Angiogenesis, the synthesis of new blood vessels from preexisting vessels, plays a critical role in normal wound healing and tumor growth. HKa (cleaved high molecular weight kininogen) is an endogenous inhibitor of angiogenesis formed by the cleavage of kininogen on endothelial cells. Ferritin is a protein principally known for its central role in iron storage. Here, we demonstrate that ferriti...

Two improved procedures were developed for activating ferritin so that the ferritin could be covalently linked to antibodies. One procedure involved use of a water-soluble carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide to prepare ferritin-containing activated esters. The other involved activation of the ferritin with excess glutaraldehyde. The ferritin-antibody conjugates prepared with the two procedure...

Ferritin is a protein principally known for its role in iron storage. We have previously shown that ferritin can bind high-molecular-weight kininogen (HK). Upon proteolytic cleavage by the protease kallikrein, HK releases the proinflammatory peptide bradykinin (BK) and other biologically active products, such as two-chain high-molecular-weight kininogen, HKa. At inflammatory sites, HK is oxidiz...

Oxidative stress is a major contributor to kidney injury following ischemia reperfusion. Ferritin, a highly conserved iron-binding protein, is a key protein in the maintenance of cellular iron homeostasis and protection from oxidative stress. Ferritin mitigates oxidant stress by sequestering iron and preventing its participation in reactions that generate reactive oxygen species. Ferritin is co...

During soybean (Glycine max) nodule development, induced ferritin mRNA concentration remains elevated while the protein concentration decreases 4- to 5-fold (M. Ragland and E.C. Theil [1993] Plant Mol Biol 21: 555-560). Investigation of posttranscriptional regulation of nodule ferritin during development showed that ferritin mRNA was efficiently translated based on polyribosome size in vivo, pr...