Cellular responses to high iron: the critical role of iron--sulfur clusters

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ISSN : 2328-9791

Cellular responses to high iron: the critical role of iron--sulfur clusters

Ren Miao

University of Utah.

Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84132

ren.miao@path.utah.edu

Iron is a key element required by all eukaryotes. It is utilized by cells in many fundamental biological processes, but it could also damage cells via Fenton chemistry. Therefore cellular iron must be tightly regulated. Cells have developed sophisticated strategies to cope with various iron availabilities. Cellular responses to low iron have been extensively studied and reviewed. The scope of this review is to summarize the current understanding of the cellular responses to high iron. In yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae high iron induces the expression of CCC1, which encodes the main vacuolar iron transporter, thereby promoting the storage of iron into vacuoles for detoxification. The expression of CCC1 is regulated by the transcription factor Yap5p. Recently published results indicate that Yap5-Ââ€dependent gene induction depends on the mitochondrial iron-Ââ€sulfur (Fe-Ââ€S) cluster synthesis and lacks direct correlation with cytosolic iron level. In mammalian cells....