Action Of Transferrin Research Articles

Iron in the brain.

The location and function of iron in the central nervous system are reviewed with particular emphasis on human biology. Iron is distributed to different cell types in the brain in a heterogeneous fashion through the action of transferrin, transferrin receptors, and the metabolic needs of those cells. The function of this iron and its storage is documented in states of growth and development as well as during pathological states associated with aging. The information relating this biology to current observations of attention deficits in iron-deficient humans is also reviewed.

Growth-stimulating effect of ferric citrate on hybridoma cells: characterization and relation to transferrin function.

The growth of mouse hybridomas in the defined medium with ferric citrate at the optimum growth-stimulating concentration of 500 microM in place of transferrin is fully comparable with the growth in the medium with transferrin at the optimum concentration of 5 micrograms/ml. Experiments with monoclonal antibody to mouse transferrin receptor demonstrate that the growth-stimulating effect of ferric citrate is not based on the action of residual transferrin or the action of transferrin secreted by hybridoma cells. Such growth-stimulating effect is specific for iron compounds while other metal trace elements are ineffective. Hybridoma cells can absorb iron from medium containing iron salt without the presence of transferrin.

Gallium-67 citrate uptake by cultured tumor cells, stimulated by serum transferrin.

The uptake of the tumor scanning agent 67-Ga citrate by cultured mouse tumor cells wqs greatly enhanced with small additons of certain sera to the culture medium. This stimulation of uptake was due to a macromolecular serum component, provisionally identified with transferrin. The response under optimum conditions was so great as to suggest that the 67-Ga uptake process depends entirely on the action of transferrin. The same mechanism probably operates in vivo and may help explain interesting features of the tracer's tissue distribution, particularly its tumor affinity.