title: Iron imports. IV. Hepcidin and regulation of body iron metabolism.
abstract: Hepcidin, a small peptide synthesized in the liver, controls extracellular iron by regulating its intestinal absorption, placental transport, recycling by macrophages, and release from stores. Hepcidin inhibits the cellular efflux of iron by binding to and inducing the degradation of ferroportin, the sole iron exporter in iron-transporting cells. In turn, hepcidin synthesis is increased by iron loading and decreased by anemia and hypoxia. Hepcidin is markedly induced during inflammation, trapping iron in macrophages, decreasing plasma iron concentrations, and contributing to the anemia of inflammation. Hepcidin deficiency due to the dysregulation of its synthesis causes most known forms of hemochromatosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1690, USA. tganz@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ganz
authors.forename: Elizabeta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nemeth
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D006432:Hemochromatosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; C578702:HAMP protein, human; D064451:Hepcidins; D007501:Iron