Ferrit(in)ing out new mechanisms in iron homeostasis.
Exquisite control of intestinal iron absorption prevents iron deficiency and toxic iron overload. Absorption is modulated by a circulating hormone, hepcidin, which inactivates the iron transporter ferroportin. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Vanoaica and colleagues show that absorption is also regulated within the intestinal epithelium, through production of the iron-sequestering protein H-ferritin.
Andrews
Nancy C
NC
Departments of Pediatrics and Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA. nancy.andrews@duke.edu