The release of iron from ferritin by aceto- and benzohydroxamic acids was studied at two different iron chelator concentrations (100 and 10 mM), at two pH values (7.4 and 5.2), and in the presence or absence of urea. Collectively, the results demonstrate that both aceto- and benzohydroxamic acids remove iron from ferritin. Aceto- and benzohydroxamic acids penetrate the ferritin shell and react ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Hereditary hyperferritinemia cataract syndrome is caused by mutations of the iron responsive elements (IREs) of L-ferritin mRNA. These alter the IRE structure and determine L-ferritin upregulation. IREs are located in 5'untranslated regions (5'UTR) of ferritin mRNAs. L-ferritin 5'UTR has been extensively studied and up to 21 different mutations have been identified. On...

PURPOSE To determine the effect of changes in ferritin subunit makeup on Fe metabolism and the resistance of lens epithelial cells (LEC) to photo-oxidative stress. METHODS Cultured canine LEC were transiently transfected with pTargeT mammalian expression vector containing the whole coding sequence of H- or L-chain cDNA. The subunit composition of newly synthesized ferritin was analyzed by met...

Introduction The iron storage protein ferritin is a heteropolymer composed of H and L subunits (1). The H subunit contains a ferroxidase site, whereas the L chain provides the nucleation centers for deposition of the ferrihydrite core (1). The subunit ratio H:L varies across different tissues and cell types (2). Recent reports used the paramagnetic ferritin core as a probeless MRI reporter (3, ...

Total serum ferritin and the proportion of serum ferritin binding to concanavalin A (glycosylated ferritin) was measured in 18 healthy volunteers and in 84 patients, eight with primary haemochromatosis, 43 with beta-thalassaemia major and secondary iron overload and 33 with chronic liver diseases without iron overload. The total serum ferritin was either equally or even more closely related tha...

Acute administration of iron to rats has been previously shown to induce liver ferritin synthesis by increasing the translation of inactive cytoplasmic ferritin mRNAs for both heavy (H) and light (L) subunits by mobilizing them onto polyribosomes. In this report rat hepatoma cells in culture are used to explore the relationship of this response to intracellular iron levels. After adding iron as...

"Serum ferritin" presents a paradox, as the iron storage protein ferritin is not synthesised in serum yet is to be found there. Serum ferritin is also a well known inflammatory marker, but it is unclear whether serum ferritin reflects or causes inflammation, or whether it is involved in an inflammatory cycle. We argue here that serum ferritin arises from damaged cells, and is thus a marker of c...

Bioiron - central to respiration, photosynthesis and DNA synthesis and complicated by radical chemistry with oxygen - depends on ferritin, the super family of protein nanocages (maxi-ferritins in humans, animals, plant, and bacteria, and mini-ferritins, also called DPS proteins, in bacteria) for iron and oxygen control. Regulation of ferritin synthesis, best studied in animals, uses DNA transcr...

BACKGROUND The serum concentrations of ferritin and adiponectin are associated with several metabolic disorders and have been used as predictors of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. But there have been no reports demonstrating a direct correlation between serum ferritin and adiponectin levels. We performed this study to evaluate the association between serum ferritin and adiponectin co...

Methylglyoxal (MG) is an endogenous metabolite which is present in increased concentrations in diabetics and reacts with amino acids to form advanced glycation end products. In this study, we investigated whether ferritin enhances DNA cleavage by the reaction of MG with lysine. When plasmid DNA was incubated with MG and lysine in the presence of ferritin, DNA strand breakage was increased in a ...