scholarly journals Role of Iron Metabolism-Related Genes in Prenatal Development: Insights from Mouse Transgenic Models

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1382
Author(s):  
Zuzanna Kopeć ◽  
Rafał R. Starzyński ◽  
Aneta Jończy ◽  
Rafał Mazgaj ◽  
Paweł Lipiński

Iron is an essential nutrient during all stages of mammalian development. Studies carried out over the last 20 years have provided important insights into cellular and systemic iron metabolism in adult organisms and led to the deciphering of many molecular details of its regulation. However, our knowledge of iron handling in prenatal development has remained remarkably under-appreciated, even though it is critical for the health of both the embryo/fetus and its mother, and has a far-reaching impact in postnatal life. Prenatal development requires a continuous, albeit quantitatively matched with the stage of development, supply of iron to support rapid cell division during embryogenesis in order to meet iron needs for erythropoiesis and to build up hepatic iron stores, (which are the major source of this microelement for the neonate). Here, we provide a concise overview of current knowledge of the role of iron metabolism-related genes in the maintenance of iron homeostasis in pre- and post-implantation development based on studies on transgenic (mainly knock-out) mouse models. Most studies on mice with globally deleted genes do not conclude whether underlying in utero iron disorders or lethality is due to defective placental iron transport or iron misregulation in the embryo/fetus proper (or due to both). Therefore, there is a need of animal models with tissue specific targeted deletion of genes to advance the understanding of prenatal iron metabolism.

2010 ◽  
Vol 151 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ádám Balogh ◽  
Szilvia Bősze ◽  
Kata Horváti ◽  
Gábor Mező ◽  
Sándor Kéki ◽  
...  

A hepcidin egy nemrégiben felfedezett, defenzin típusú peptid, amely központi szerepet játszik a vasháztartás szabályozásában. A hepcidin csökkenti a vastranszportban szerepet játszó molekulák expresszióját, így gátolja a vas gastrointestinalis rendszerből való felszívódását, makrofágokból való felszabadulását, csökkentve ezzel a szérum vasszintjét. A hepcidin vasháztartásban betöltött szerepének tisztázása segíthet a gyulladásos és krónikus betegségekben bekövetkező anémia pontosabb megértésében. Munkánk kezdetén a hepcidin kimutatására alkalmas, kereskedelmi forgalomban elérhető módszer nem állt rendelkezésre. Célunk volt egy, a vizelethepcidin kimutatására alkalmas módszer kidolgozása, valamint hogy ezen módszer segítségével vizsgáljuk a hepcidin jelentőségét a perinatalis vasháztartásban. Munkánk során a natív, emberi hepcidin aminosav-szekvenciájának megfelelően állítottunk elő peptidszármazékokat, amelyek közül az 1-7 peptidszármazékról igazoltuk, hogy alkalmas lehet a natív hepcidin standard helyettesítésére immunreakción alapuló módszerek fejlesztésekor. Kidolgoztunk egy, az emberi vizelethepcidin mennyiségi meghatározására alkalmas, lézerdeszorpciós tömegspektrometriás, szemikvantitatív módszert, amelyben az általunk szintetizált acetil-1-25 peptidszármazékot mint hepcidinszerű belső standardot elsőként alkalmaztuk. Kidolgoztunk a vizelet tisztítására és a vizelethepcidin koncentrálására alkalmas, szilárd fázisú extrakción alapuló módszert. Az általunk kidolgozott módszerrel elsőként mértük egészséges újszülöttek vizelethepcidin-szintjét, valamint egy kereskedelmi forgalomban elérhető módszerrel a szérumprohepcidin-szintjét. Kimutattuk, hogy az érett újszülöttek korai adaptációja során a szérumprohepcidin-szint nem változik, a vizelethepcidin viszont szignifikánsan nő. A szérumprohepcidin- és a vizelethepcidin-szintek egymással nem mutattak összefüggést. Kimutattuk, hogy az érett újszülöttek vasháztartásának korai adaptációja során a szérumprohepcidin-szintek kizárólag a vörösvérsejtek átlagos hemoglobinkoncentrációjával, míg a vizelethepcidin-szintek a szérumvasszinttel és teljes vaskötő kapacitással mutattak összefüggést. Kimutattuk, hogy az érett újszülöttek vasháztartásának korai adaptációja során a köldökzsinórvér-mintákban az alacsonyabb szérumprohepcidin-szintek esetén szabad vas jelenléte igazolható. Összefoglalva: Eredményeink alapján elmondhatjuk, hogy a hepcidinnek valószínűleg szerepe van az újszülöttek korai, a vasháztartást érintő adaptációjában, azonban további vizsgálatok szükségesek ahhoz, hogy ezt az összefüggést biztosan megállapíthassuk.


2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1795) ◽  
pp. 20190339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla

Our perception of the role of the previously considered ‘selfish’ or ‘junk’ DNA has been dramatically altered in the past 20 years or so. A large proportion of this non-coding part of mammalian genomes is repetitive in nature, classified as either satellites or transposons. While repetitive elements can be termed selfish in terms of their amplification, such events have surely been co-opted by the host, suggesting by itself a likely altruistic function for the organism at the subject of such natural selection. Indeed numerous examples of transposons regulating the functional output of the host genome have been documented. Transposons provide a powerful framework for large-scale relatively rapid concerted regulatory activities with the ability to drive evolution. Mammalian totipotency has emerged as one key stage of development in which transposon-mediated regulation of gene expression has taken centre stage in the past few years. During this period, large-scale (epigenetic) reprogramming must be accomplished in order to activate the host genome. In mice and men, one particular element murine endogenous retrovirus with leucine tRNA primer (MERVL) (and its counterpart human ERVL (HERVL)) appears to have acquired roles as a key driving force in this process. Here, I will discuss and interpret the current knowledge and its implications regarding the role of transposons, particularly of long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE-1s) and endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), in the regulation of totipotency. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Crossroads between transposons and gene regulation’.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maaike J. Bruins ◽  
Peter Van Dael ◽  
Manfred Eggersdorfer

An increasing aging population worldwide accounts for a growing share of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) of the overall social and economic burden. Dietary and nutritional approaches are of paramount importance in the management of NCDs. As a result, nutrition programs are increasingly integrated into public health policies. At present, programs aimed at reducing the burden of NCDs have focused mostly on the excess of unhealthy nutrient intakes whereas the importance of optimizing adequate essential and semi-essential nutrient intakes and nutrient-rich diets has received less attention. Surveys indicate that nutrient intakes of the aging population are insufficient to optimally support healthy aging. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies in older adults are related to increased risk of NCDs including fatigue, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive and neuromuscular function impairments. Reviewed literature demonstrates that improving intake for certain nutrients may be important in reducing progress of NCDs such as musculoskeletal disorders, dementia, loss of vision, and cardiometabolic diseases during aging. Current knowledge concerning improving individual nutrient intakes to reduce progression of chronic disease is still emerging with varying effect sizes and levels of evidence. Most pronounced benefits of nutrients were found in participants who had low nutrient intake or status at baseline or who had increased genetic and metabolic needs for that nutrient. Authorities should implement ways to optimize essential nutrient intake as an integral part of their strategies to address NCDs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1854-1858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gracia Becerra ◽  
Rafael Blasco ◽  
Alberto Quesada ◽  
Faustino Merchán ◽  
M. Isabel Igeño

Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 can be used in cyanide bioremediation processes because it grows at pH 9.5 using 2.0 mM cyanide at the sole nitrogen source. Cyanide strongly binds to metals creating iron-deprivation conditions. The bacterium responds to the presence of cyanide by inducing several processes such as siderophore synthesis for iron capture, cyanide-insensitive respiration system and defence mechanisms against oxidative stress. Since high concentrations of cyanide cause iron deficiency and because iron is an essential nutrient, bacterial growth in the presence of cyanide requires an efficient iron uptake. Fur is a global transcription factor that regulates a diversity of biological processes such as iron homoeostasis, TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle metabolism and oxidative stress response. Fur's regulation of iron uptake and storage genes should play a significant role in the lives of these bacteria. In the present review, current knowledge of Fur is summarized.


2016 ◽  
Vol 310 (3) ◽  
pp. G171-G180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gautam Rishi ◽  
Eriza S. Secondes ◽  
Daniel F. Wallace ◽  
V. Nathan Subramaniam

Iron is an essential element, since it is a component of many macromolecules involved in diverse physiological and cellular functions, including oxygen transport, cellular growth, and metabolism. Systemic iron homeostasis is predominantly regulated by the liver through the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin. Hepcidin expression is itself regulated by a number of proteins, including transferrin receptor 2 (TFR2). TFR2 has been shown to be expressed in the liver, bone marrow, macrophages, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Studies from our laboratory have shown that mice with a hepatocyte-specific deletion of Tfr2 recapitulate the hemochromatosis phenotype of the global Tfr2 knockout mice, suggesting that the hepatic expression of TFR2 is important in systemic iron homeostasis. It is unclear how TFR2 in macrophages contributes to the regulation of iron metabolism. We examined the role of TFR2 in macrophages by analysis of transgenic mice lacking Tfr2 in macrophages by crossing Tfr2 f/f mice with LysM-Cre mice. Mice were fed an iron-rich diet or injected with lipopolysaccharide to examine the role of macrophage Tfr2 in iron- or inflammation-mediated regulation of hepcidin. Body iron homeostasis was unaffected in the knockout mice, suggesting that macrophage TFR2 is not required for the regulation of systemic iron metabolism. However, peritoneal macrophages of knockout mice had significantly lower levels of ferroportin mRNA and protein, suggesting that TFR2 may be involved in regulating ferroportin levels in macrophages. These studies further elucidate the role of TFR2 in the regulation of iron homeostasis and its role in regulation of ferroportin and thus macrophage iron homeostasis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Lesjak ◽  
Surjit K. S. Srai

Balancing systemic iron levels within narrow limits is critical for human health, as both iron deficiency and overload lead to serious disorders. There are no known physiologically controlled pathways to eliminate iron from the body and therefore iron homeostasis is maintained by modifying dietary iron absorption. Several dietary factors, such as flavonoids, are known to greatly affect iron absorption. Recent evidence suggests that flavonoids can affect iron status by regulating expression and activity of proteins involved the systemic regulation of iron metabolism and iron absorption. We provide an overview of the links between different dietary flavonoids and iron homeostasis together with the mechanism of flavonoids effect on iron metabolism. In addition, we also discuss the clinical relevance of state-of-the-art knowledge regarding therapeutic potential that flavonoids may have for conditions that are low in iron such as anaemia or iron overload diseases.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 1895-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Haunhorst ◽  
Eva-Maria Hanschmann ◽  
Lars Bräutigam ◽  
Oliver Stehling ◽  
Bastian Hoffmann ◽  
...  

The mechanisms by which eukaryotic cells handle and distribute the essential micronutrient iron within the cytosol and other cellular compartments are only beginning to emerge. The yeast monothiol multidomain glutaredoxins (Grx) 3 and 4 are essential for both transcriptional iron regulation and intracellular iron distribution. Despite the fact that the mechanisms of iron metabolism differ drastically in fungi and higher eukaryotes, the glutaredoxins are conserved, yet their precise function in vertebrates has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate a crucial role of the vertebrate-specific monothiol multidomain Grx3 (PICOT) in cellular iron homeostasis. During zebrafish embryonic development, depletion of Grx3 severely impairs the maturation of hemoglobin, the major iron-consuming process. Silencing of human Grx3 expression in HeLa cells decreases the activities of several cytosolic Fe/S proteins, for example, iron-regulatory protein 1, a major component of posttranscriptional iron regulation. As a consequence, Grx3-depleted cells show decreased levels of ferritin and increased levels of transferrin receptor, features characteristic of cellular iron starvation. Apparently, Grx3-deficient cells are unable to efficiently use iron, despite unimpaired cellular iron uptake. These data suggest an evolutionarily conserved role of cytosolic monothiol multidomain glutaredoxins in cellular iron metabolism pathways, including the biogenesis of Fe/S proteins and hemoglobin maturation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5529
Author(s):  
Álvaro González-Domínguez ◽  
Francisco M. Visiedo-García ◽  
Jesús Domínguez-Riscart ◽  
Raúl González-Domínguez ◽  
Rosa M. Mateos ◽  
...  

Obesity is an excessive adipose tissue accumulation that may have detrimental effects on health. Particularly, childhood obesity has become one of the main public health problems in the 21st century, since its prevalence has widely increased in recent years. Childhood obesity is intimately related to the development of several comorbidities such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, non-congenital cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation and anemia, among others. Within this tangled interplay between these comorbidities and associated pathological conditions, obesity has been closely linked to important perturbations in iron metabolism. Iron is the second most abundant metal on Earth, but its bioavailability is hampered by its ability to form highly insoluble oxides, with iron deficiency being the most common nutritional disorder. Although every living organism requires iron, it may also cause toxic oxygen damage by generating oxygen free radicals through the Fenton reaction. Thus, iron homeostasis and metabolism must be tightly regulated in humans at every level (i.e., absorption, storage, transport, recycling). Dysregulation of any step involved in iron metabolism may lead to iron deficiencies and, eventually, to the anemic state related to obesity. In this review article, we summarize the existent evidence on the role of the most recently described components of iron metabolism and their alterations in obesity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 793-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradford J. Condon ◽  
Shinichi Oide ◽  
Donna M. Gibson ◽  
Stuart B. Krasnoff ◽  
B. Gillian Turgeon

Iron is an essential nutrient and prudent iron acquisition and management are key traits of a successful pathogen. Fungi use nonribosomally synthesized secreted iron chelators (siderophores) or reductive iron assimilation (RIA) mechanisms to acquire iron in a high affinity manner. Previous studies with the maize pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus identified two genes, NPS2 and NPS6, encoding different nonribosomal peptide synthetases responsible for biosynthesis of intra- and extracellular siderophores, respectively. Deletion of NPS6 results in loss of extracellular siderophore biosynthesis, attenuated virulence, hypersensitivity to oxidative and iron-depletion stress, and reduced asexual sporulation, while nps2 mutants are phenotypically wild type in all of these traits but defective in sexual spore development when NPS2 is missing from both mating partners. Here, it is reported that nps2nps6 mutants have more severe phenotypes than both nps2 and nps6 single mutants. In contrast, mutants lacking the FTR1 or FET3 genes encoding the permease and ferroxidase components, respectively, of the alternate RIA system, are like wild type in all of the above phenotypes. However, without supplemental iron, combinatorial nps6ftr1 and nps2nps6ftr1 mutants are less virulent, are reduced in growth, and are less able to combat oxidative stress and to sporulate asexually, compared with nps6 mutants alone. These findings demonstrate that, while the role of RIA in metabolism and virulence is overshadowed by that of extracellular siderophores as a high-affinity iron acquisition mechanism in C. heterostrophus, it functions as a critical backup for the fungus.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ratajska ◽  
G. Gula ◽  
A. Flaht-Zabost ◽  
E. Czarnowska ◽  
B. Ciszek ◽  
...  

The role of the cardiac lymphatic system has been recently appreciated since lymphatic disturbances take part in various heart pathologies. This review presents the current knowledge about normal anatomy and structure of lymphatics and their prenatal development for a better understanding of the proper functioning of this system in relation to coronary circulation. Lymphatics of the heart consist of terminal capillaries of various diameters, capillary plexuses that drain continuously subendocardial, myocardial, and subepicardial areas, and draining (collecting) vessels that lead the lymph out of the heart. There are interspecies differences in the distribution of lymphatic capillaries, especially near the valves, as well as differences in the routes and number of draining vessels. In some species, subendocardial areas contain fewer lymphatic capillaries as compared to subepicardial parts of the heart. In all species there is at least one collector vessel draining lymph from the subepicardial plexuses and running along the anterior interventricular septum under the left auricle and further along the pulmonary trunk outside the heart and terminating in the right venous angle. The second collector assumes a different route in various species. In most mammalian species the collectors run along major branches of coronary arteries, have valves and a discontinuous layer of smooth muscle cells.


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