Iron mobilization from isolated hepatocytes

Abstract

It is not known which message and mechanism triggers the cell to mobilize iron from ferritin. In this paper we present the results of incubation experiments with 59Fe-labelled hepatocytes. Anemic serum gives a significant higher rate of iron mobilization than normal serum. The involvement of apo-transferrin is ruled out because it did not increase iron mobilization. Citrate increased iron mobilization which is not the result of an increase in NADH/NAD+-ratio because addition of ethanol did not stimulate iron mobilization. Desferrioxamine is used clinically in iron overloaded patients and it is known that iron removal is a very slow process. Although desferrioxamine can mobilize iron from ferritin in hepatocytes, a considerable amount remains inside the cell as a low molecular weight fraction. This fraction represents chelator bound iron and is slowly released into the circulation.