Transferrin is an essential growth factor for African trypanosomes. Here we show that expression of the trypanosomal transferrin receptor, which bears no structural similarity with mammalian transferrin receptors, is regulated by iron availability. Iron depletion of bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei with the iron chelator deferoxamine resulted in a 3-fold up-regulation of the transferrin ...

BACKGROUND In transfusional siderosis, the iron binding capacity of plasma transferrin is often surpassed, with concomitant generation of non-transferrin-bound iron. Although implicated in tissue siderosis, non-transferrin-bound iron modes of cell ingress remain undefined, largely because of its variable composition and association with macromolecules. Using fluorescent tracing of labile iron i...

Neisseria meningitidis, a causative agent of bacterial meningitis and septicemia, obtains transferrin-bound iron by expressing two outer membrane-located transferrin-binding proteins, TbpA and TbpB. A novel system was developed to investigate the interaction between Tbps and human transferrin. Copurified TbpA-TbpB, recombined TbpA-TbpB, and individual TbpA and TbpB were reconstituted into lipos...

BACKGROUND The gene that causes most cases of hereditary hemochromatosis is designated HFE. Individuals with mutations in the HFE gene may have increased serum iron, transferrin saturation, and ferritin concentrations relative to individuals with the wild-type genotype. METHODS We generated reference centiles for percentage of transferrin saturation and serum ferritin concentrations in normal...

During endochondral bone formation, avascular cartilage differentiates to hypertrophic cartilage that then undergoes erosion and vascularization leading to bone deposition. Resting cartilage produces inhibitors of angiogenesis, shifting to production of angiogenic stimulators in hypertrophic cartilage. A major protein synthesized by hypertrophic cartilage both in vivo and in vitro is transferri...

Human low density lipoprotein (LDL, d = 1.020-1.050 g/ml) inhibits mitogen-stimulated T lymphocyte DNA synthesis. Because both LDL and transferrin bind to specific cell surface receptors and enter cells by the similar means of receptor-mediated endocytosis, and because transferrin is necessary for lymphocyte DNA synthesis, we investigated the possibility that LDL may inhibit mitogen-stimulated ...

HeLa cells were found to have a single class of non-interacting receptors specific for transferrin. Both apotransferrin and diferric transferrin competed equally with 125I-diferric transferrin for receptor binding. Transferrin binding was temperature-dependent and reversible. Binding of transferrin to cells exhibited a KD of 27 nM with a maximum binding capacity of 1.8-3.7 x 10(6) molecules/cel...

The uptake of transferrin and iron by cultured myogenic cells transformed with a temperature-sensitive strain of the Rous sarcoma virus (tsLA24) was compared with that of normal developing myogenic cells which were proliferating at the same rate as the transformed cells. The mechanism of transferrin and iron uptake was the same in the transformed cells as in normal myogenic cells and involved r...