Comparative structural and chemical studies of ferritin cores with gradual removal of their iron contents.
Abstract: Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES), Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), and SQUID magnetic studies were performed in a batch of horse spleen ferritins from which iron had been gradually removed, yielding samples containing 2200, 1200, 500, and 200 iron atoms. Taken together, findings obtained demonstrate that the ferritin iron core consists of a polyphasic structure (ferrihydrite, magnetite, hematite) and that the proportion of phases is modified by iron removal. Thus, the relative amount of magnetite in ferritin containing 2200 to 200 iron atoms rose steadily from approximately 20% to approximately 70% whereas the percentage of ferrihydrite fell from approximately 60% to approximately 20%. These results indicate a ferrihydrite-magnetite core-shell structure. It was also found that the magnetite in the ferritin iron core is not a source of free toxic ferrous iron, as previously believed. Therefore, the presence of magnetite in the ferritin cores of patients with Alzheimer's disease is not a cause of their increased brain iron(II) concentration.
Publication Date: 2008-05-29 PubMed ID: 18507465DOI: 10.1021/ja800492zGoogle Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Comparative Study
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.
The study reveals that ferritin iron cores are made up of multiple structures, whose proportions change when iron is removed. Also, contrary to past beliefs, magnetite in the ferritin core doesn’t contribute to toxic iron levels, thus not playing a role in increased brain iron levels in Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Methods Used in the Study
- The researchers carried out various scientific techniques like Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES), Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), and SQUID magnetic studies to carefully analyze samples of horse spleen ferritins.
- They methodically removed iron from the ferritin to create samples with varying iron atom counts: 2200, 1200, 500, and 200.
Findings of the Study
- They discovered that the iron core inside ferritin exists as a multi-phase structure, composed of ferrihydrite, magnetite, and hematite.
- Found substantial changes in phase proportions when iron was removed. Magnetite levels steadily rose from around 20% to around 70% as the iron count lowered from 2200 to 200. Meanwhile, ferrihydrite levels saw a decline from around 60% to around 20%.
- This change in proportions demonstrated a ferrihydrite-magnetite core-shell structure.
Implications of the Study
- Contradicting earlier accepted views, the researchers found that magnetite in the ferritin iron core does not produce toxic ferrous iron. Thus it is not a contributing factor to iron toxicity.
- This means that magnetite’s presence in the ferritin cores of Alzheimer’s patients isn’t causing their increased brain iron(II) concentration. This finding is significant because it helps enhance our understanding of not only ferritin structure but also its role in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
Cite This Article
APA
Gálvez N, Fernández B, Sánchez P, Cuesta R, Ceolín M, Clemente-León M, Trasobares S, López-Haro M, Calvino JJ, Stéphan O, Domínguez-Vera JM.
(2008).
Comparative structural and chemical studies of ferritin cores with gradual removal of their iron contents.
J Am Chem Soc, 130(25), 8062-8068.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ja800492z Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Ferritins / analysis
- Ferritins / chemistry
- Ferrosoferric Oxide / chemistry
- Horses
- Iron / analysis
- Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
- Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
- Models, Chemical
- Spleen / chemistry
Citations
This article has been cited 22 times.- Gehrer CM, Hoffmann A, Hilbe R, Grubwieser P, Mitterstiller AM, Talasz H, Fang FC, Meyron-Holtz EG, Atkinson SH, Weiss G, Nairz M. Availability of Ferritin-Bound Iron to Enterobacteriaceae.. Int J Mol Sci 2022 Oct 28;23(21).
- Kuwata T, Sato D, Yanagida Y, Aoki E, Fujiwara K, Yoshimura H, Ikeguchi M. Morphological difference of Escherichia coli non-heme ferritin iron cores reconstituted in the presence and absence of inorganic phosphate.. J Biol Inorg Chem 2022 Sep;27(6):583-594.
- Chesnokov Y, Mozhaev A, Kamyshinsky R, Gordienko A, Dadinova L. Structural Insights into Iron Ions Accumulation in Dps Nanocage.. Int J Mol Sci 2022 May 10;23(10).
- Koochana PK, Mohanty A, Parida A, Behera N, Behera PM, Dixit A, Behera RK. Flavin-mediated reductive iron mobilization from frog M and Mycobacterial ferritins: impact of their size, charge and reactivities with NADH/O(2).. J Biol Inorg Chem 2021 May;26(2-3):265-281.
- Bell AM, Robinson JT. The rotating magnetocaloric effect as a potential mechanism for natural magnetic senses.. PLoS One 2019;14(10):e0222401.
- Barbic M. Possible magneto-mechanical and magneto-thermal mechanisms of ion channel activation in magnetogenetics.. Elife 2019 Aug 2;8.
- Sato D, Ikeguchi M. Mechanisms of ferritin assembly studied by time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering.. Biophys Rev 2019 Jun;11(3):449-455.
- Van de Walle A, Plan Sangnier A, Abou-Hassan A, Curcio A, Hémadi M, Menguy N, Lalatonne Y, Luciani N, Wilhelm C. Biosynthesis of magnetic nanoparticles from nano-degradation products revealed in human stem cells.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019 Mar 5;116(10):4044-4053.
- Bou-Abdallah F, Paliakkara JJ, Melman G, Melman A. Reductive Mobilization of Iron from Intact Ferritin: Mechanisms and Physiological Implication.. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2018 Nov 5;11(4).
- Stanley SA, Friedman JM. Electromagnetic Regulation of Cell Activity.. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2019 May 1;9(5).
- Sigmund F, Massner C, Erdmann P, Stelzl A, Rolbieski H, Desai M, Bricault S, Wörner TP, Snijder J, Geerlof A, Fuchs H, Hrabĕ de Angelis M, Heck AJR, Jasanoff A, Ntziachristos V, Plitzko J, Westmeyer GG. Bacterial encapsulins as orthogonal compartments for mammalian cell engineering.. Nat Commun 2018 May 18;9(1):1990.
- Wajnberg E, Alves OC, Perales J, da Rocha SLG, Ferreira AT, Cameron LC, Esquivel DMS, de Lourdes Barriviera M. Ferritin from the haemolymph of adult ants: an extraction method for characterization and a ferromagnetic study.. Eur Biophys J 2018 Sep;47(6):641-653.
- Gorobets O, Gorobets S, Koralewski M. Physiological origin of biogenic magnetic nanoparticles in health and disease: from bacteria to humans.. Int J Nanomedicine 2017;12:4371-4395.
- Liu X, Lopez PA, Giessen TW, Giles M, Way JC, Silver PA. Engineering Genetically-Encoded Mineralization and Magnetism via Directed Evolution.. Sci Rep 2016 Nov 29;6:38019.
- Blissett AR, Ollander B, Penn B, McTigue DM, Agarwal G. Magnetic mapping of iron in rodent spleen.. Nanomedicine 2017 Apr;13(3):977-986.
- Bao Y, Wen T, Samia AC, Khandhar A, Krishnan KM. Magnetic Nanoparticles: Material Engineering and Emerging Applications in Lithography and Biomedicine.. J Mater Sci 2016 Jan;51(1):513-553.
- Qin S, Yin H, Yang C, Dou Y, Liu Z, Zhang P, Yu H, Huang Y, Feng J, Hao J, Hao J, Deng L, Yan X, Dong X, Zhao Z, Jiang T, Wang HW, Luo SJ, Xie C. A magnetic protein biocompass.. Nat Mater 2016 Feb;15(2):217-26.
- Jandacka P, Burda H, Pistora J. Magnetically induced behaviour of ferritin corpuscles in avian ears: can cuticulosomes function as magnetosomes?. J R Soc Interface 2015 Jan 6;12(102):20141087.
- Haikarainen T, Paturi P, Lindén J, Haataja S, Meyer-Klaucke W, Finne J, Papageorgiou AC. Magnetic properties and structural characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles formed by Streptococcus suis Dpr and four mutants.. J Biol Inorg Chem 2011 Jun;16(5):799-807.
- Meyron-Holtz EG, Moshe-Belizowski S, Cohen LA. A possible role for secreted ferritin in tissue iron distribution.. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2011 Mar;118(3):337-47.
- Meadowcroft MD, Connor JR, Smith MB, Yang QX. MRI and histological analysis of beta-amyloid plaques in both human Alzheimer's disease and APP/PS1 transgenic mice.. J Magn Reson Imaging 2009 May;29(5):997-1007.
- Pan YH, Sader K, Powell JJ, Bleloch A, Gass M, Trinick J, Warley A, Li A, Brydson R, Brown A. 3D morphology of the human hepatic ferritin mineral core: new evidence for a subunit structure revealed by single particle analysis of HAADF-STEM images.. J Struct Biol 2009 Apr;166(1):22-31.
Use Nutrition Calculator
Check if your horse's diet meets their nutrition requirements with our easy-to-use tool Check your horse's diet with our easy-to-use tool
Talk to a Nutritionist
Discuss your horse's feeding plan with our experts over a free phone consultation Discuss your horse's diet over a phone consultation
Submit Diet Evaluation
Get a customized feeding plan for your horse formulated by our equine nutritionists Get a custom feeding plan formulated by our nutritionists