Iron is one of the most common elements in nature. As a transition metal it is very efficient in electron transport and redox reactions. The proteins and enzymes in which iron is an essential component play a key role in respiration, energy production, detoxification of harmful oxygen species and cell replication. Despite the abundance of iron in nature, the solubility of its stable ferric form...

While research on iron nutrition in plants has largely focused on iron-uptake pathways, photosynthetic microbes such as the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii provide excellent experimental systems for understanding iron metabolism at the subcellular level. Several paradigms in iron homeostasis have been established in this alga, including photosystem remodeling in the chloroplast...

Iron plays a crucial role in metabolism as a key component of catalytic and redox cofactors, such as heme or iron-sulfur clusters in enzymes and electron-transporting or regulatory proteins. Limitation of iron availability by the host is also one of the mechanisms involved in immunity. Pathogens must regulate their protein expression according to the iron concentration in their environment and ...

Iron plays a critical role in survival and virulence of the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Two transcription factors, the GATA-factor SreA and the bZip-factor HapX oppositely monitor iron homeostasis with HapX activating iron acquisition pathways (e.g., siderophores) and shutting down iron consumptive pathways (and SreA) during iron starvation conditions whereas SreA negatively r...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Hereditary hemochromatosis (HC) is an inborn error of iron metabolism that leads to progressive iron overload. Considerable advances in the knowledge of molecular events in iron metabolism have been recently obtained. These molecular findings, the cloning of the gene responsible for HC (HFE gene) and the results of preliminary studies on the HFE protein prompted us to ...

T HE HUMAN body shows great economy in its handling of iron. Only small amounts of iron arefound in the excreta, and these amounts cannot be appreciably increased through loading body iron stores by oral ingestion,’ by parenteral iron administration2 or by multiple blood transfusions.3 These observations imply that iron is rigidly conserved by the body and that no attention need be directed tow...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with dysregulated iron metabolism, which may play a significant role in cellular injury. The effect of hemodialysis (HD) on iron metabolism in AKI therapy has not been well defined. The effects of HD on iron parameters were tested in control rats and bilateral nephrectomy (BNx) rats. The BNx rats were divided into the following three groups: 1) the sham-o...

Hereditary hemochromatosis Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is characterized by abnormal iron absorption from the diet resulting in progressive iron overload, causing tissue damage of several organs, particularly the liver (1). Historically HH has been regarded as an extremely rare inborn error of metabolism causing "bronze diabetes", liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma due to heavy iro...

Iron is indispensable for the proper functioning of virtually all cells in the body. However, red blood cells, which contain approximately 80% of organismal iron, have a particularly intimate relationship with this precious metal. It is safe to say that the iron content of erythroid progenitors (e.g., BFU-Es; please see below) is infi nitesimal compared to the amount of iron in mature erythrocy...

Iron is an essential element for the living body. The human body stores iron mostly in liver, spleen, marrow and skeletal muscle in the form of ferritin and hemosiderin. Hemosiderin has been known as yellowish granules that can be stained by Prussian blue in the tissue cells. On the other hand, ferritin is invisible by photomicroscopy or may be faintly visible and stained diffusely in the tissu...