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Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Iron Metabolism

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RNA Binding Proteins

Part of the book series: Endocrine Updates ((ENDO,volume 16))

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Abstract

Over the last fifteen years, much insight has been gained into the processes that determine how iron will be transported and utilized in cells and animals. Regulation of iron metabolism is important because iron is required for function of numerous proteins such as hemoglobin, but excess iron can react with oxygen species to generate free radicals and oxidative damage. Many human diseases are caused by insufficient or excess iron uptake, including iron deficiency anemia, a major health problem throughout the developing world, and hemochromatosis, an inherited iron overload syndrome that leads to serious disease in the Western world (1). Because iron is both indispensable and potentially toxic, virtually all cells and organisms regulate uptake and utilization of iron. The regulation of many iron metabolism proteins, including ferritin and transferrin receptor depends upon binding of iron regulatory proteins to RNA stem-loops found within the transcripts that encode these proteins.

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  1. NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Tracey A. Rouault

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  1. Tracey A. Rouault
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Medicine and Physiology & Biophysics, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Kathryn Sandberg Ph.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  2. Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Susan E. Mulroney Ph.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

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Rouault, T.A. (2002). Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Iron Metabolism. In: Sandberg, K., Mulroney, S.E. (eds) RNA Binding Proteins. Endocrine Updates, vol 16. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6446-8_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6446-8_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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