The effect of chelating agents on iron mobilization in Chang cell cultures. (1/1100)

The investigation of chelating agents with potential therapeutic value in patients with transfusional iron overload has been facilitated by the use of Chang cell cultures. These cells have been incubated with [59Fe]transferrin for 22 hr, following which most of the intracellular radioiron is found in the cytosol, distributed between a ferritin and a nonferritin form. Iron release from the cells depends on transferrin saturation in the medium, but when transferrin is 100% saturated, which normally does not allow iron release, desferrioxamine, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, rhodotorulic acid, cholythydroxamic acid, and tropolone all promote the mobilization of ferritin iron and its release from cells. They are effective to an approximately equal degree. The incubation of [59Fe]transferrin with tropolone in vitro at a molar ratio of 1:500 results in the transfer of most of the labeled iron to the chelator, reflecting the exceptionally high binding constant of this compound. How far these phenomena relate to therapeutic potentially remains to be seen.  (+info)

Hereditary juvenile haemochromatosis: a genetically heterogeneous life-threatening iron-storage disease. (2/1100)

Juvenile haemochromatosis is a rare inborn error of iron metabolism with clinical manifestations before 30 years of age. Unlike adult haemochromatosis which principally affects men, juvenile haemochromatosis affects the sexes equally; it causes early endocrine failure, dilated cardiomyopathy and joint disease. We report four patients (two of each sex) from three pedigrees affected by juvenile haemochromatosis with a mean onset at 22 years (range 14-30). All had endocrine deficiency with postpubertal gonadal failure secondary to pituitary disease; two suffered near-fatal cardiomyopathy with heart failure. Mean time to diagnosis from the first clinical signs of disease was 9.8 years (range 0.5-20) but general health and parameters of iron storage responded favourably to iron-depletion therapy. A 24-year-old man listed for heart transplantation because of cardiomyopathy [left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction 16%] responded to intravenous iron chelation with desferrioxamine combined with phlebotomy (ejection fraction 31%). A 27-year-old woman with subacute biventricular heart failure refractory to medication required orthotopic cardiac transplantation before the diagnosis was established (LV ejection fraction 25%). Genetic studies showed that these two patients with cardiomyopathy from unrelated families were heterozygous for the HFE 845G-->A (C282Y) mutation and wild-type at the H63D locus: complete sequencing of the intron-exon boundaries and entire coding sequence of the HFE gene failed to identify additional lesions. Two siblings in a pedigree without cardiomyopathy were wild-type at the HFE C282Y locus; although the brother harboured a single copy of the 187C-->G (H63D) allele, segregation analysis showed that in neither sibling was the iron-storage disease linked to MHC Class I markers on chromosome 6p. Juvenile haemochromatosis is thus a genetically heterogenous disorder distinct from the common adult variant.  (+info)

Down regulation by iron of prostaglandin E2 production by human synovial fibroblasts. (3/1100)

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of iron on the prostaglandin (PG) E2 production by human synovial fibroblasts in vitro. METHODS: Human synovial fibroblasts were isolated from synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) patients and cultured in medium. Synovial fibroblasts were stimulated by human recombinant interleukin (IL) 1 beta (0.1-10 ng/ml) with or without ferric citrate (Fe-citrate, 0.01-1 mM). The amount of PGE2 in the culture medium was measured by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The production of PGE2 by the synovial fibroblasts was increased by stimulation with IL1 beta at all concentrations tested. Fe-citrate but not sodium citrate (Na-citrate) down regulated the production of PGE2 by the synovial fibroblasts, both with and without stimulation by IL1 beta. Fe-citrate inhibited the spontaneous PGE2 production by the cells in a dose dependent manner, and a maximum inhibition by Fe-citrate was observed at the concentration of 0.1 mM with IL1 beta stimulation. The down regulation by iron was reversed by the co-addition of desferrioxamine (100 micrograms/ml), an iron chelator. CONCLUSION: Iron down regulates the PGE2 production by synovial fibroblasts in vitro.  (+info)

Inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 activation by carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. Implications for oxygen sensing and signaling. (4/1100)

It has been proposed that cells sense hypoxia by a heme protein, which transmits a signal that activates the heterodimeric transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), thereby inducing a number of physiologically relevant genes such as erythropoietin (Epo). We have investigated the mechanism by which two heme-binding ligands, carbon monoxide and nitric oxide, affect oxygen sensing and signaling. Two concentrations of CO (10 and 80%) suppressed the activation of HIF-1 and induction of Epo mRNA by hypoxia in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, CO had no effect on the induction of HIF-1 activity and Epo expression by either cobalt chloride or the iron chelator desferrioxamine. The affinity of CO for the putative sensor was much lower than that of oxygen (Haldane coefficient, approximately 0.5). Parallel experiments were done with 100 microM sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor. Both NO and CO inhibited HIF-1 DNA binding by abrogating hypoxia-induced accumulation of HIF-1alpha protein. Moreover, both NO and CO specifically targeted the internal oxygen-dependent degradation domain of HIF-1alpha, and also repressed the C-terminal transactivation domain of HIF-1alpha. Thus, NO and CO act proximally, presumably as heme ligands binding to the oxygen sensor, whereas desferrioxamine and perhaps cobalt appear to act at a site downstream.  (+info)

IC202A, a new siderophore with immunosuppressive activity produced by Streptoalloteichus sp. 1454-19. I. Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation and biological activity. (5/1100)

IC202A, a new immunosuppressive compound, was isolated from the culture filtrate of Streptoalloteichus sp. 1454-19. It showed a suppressive effect on mixed lymphocyte culture reaction with an IC50 value of 3.6 microg/ml and mitogen induced lymphocyte blastogenesis in vitro.  (+info)

IC202A, a new siderophore with immunosuppressive activity produced by Streptoalloteichus sp. 1454-19. II. Physico-chemical properties and structure elucidation. (6/1100)

IC202A (1) was isolated from the culture filtrate of Streptoalloteichus sp. 1454-19. The structure of 1 was determined by spectral analysis including a variety of two-dimentional NMR and FAB-MS experiments. IC202A is a ferrioxamine-related compound containing a butylidene N-oxide function.  (+info)

Ferrioxamine-mediated Iron(III) utilization by Salmonella enterica. (7/1100)

Utilization of ferrioxamines as sole sources of iron distinguishes Salmonella enterica serotypes Typhimurium and Enteritidis from a number of related species, including Escherichia coli. Ferrioxamine supplements have therefore been used in preenrichment and selection media to increase the bacterial growth rate while selectivity is maintained. We characterized the determinants involved in utilization of ferrioxamines B, E, and G by S. enterica serotype Typhimurium by performing siderophore cross-feeding bioassays. Transport of all three ferric siderophores across the outer membrane was dependent on the FoxA receptor encoded by the Fur-repressible foxA gene. However, only the transport of ferrioxamine G was dependent on the energy-transducing protein TonB, since growth stimulation of a tonB strain by ferrioxamines B and E was observed, albeit at lower efficiencies than in the parental strain. Transport across the inner membrane was dependent on the periplasmic binding protein-dependent ABC transporter complex comprising FhuBCD, as has been reported for other hydroxamate siderophores of enteric bacteria. The distribution of the foxA gene in the genus Salmonella, as indicated by DNA hybridization studies and correlated with the ability to utilize ferrioxamine E, was restricted to subspecies I, II, and IIIb, and this gene was absent from subspecies IIIa, IV, VI, and VII (formerly subspecies IV) and Salmonella bongori (formerly subspecies V). S. enterica serotype Typhimurium mutants with either a transposon insertion or a defined nonpolar frameshift (+2) mutation in the foxA gene were not able to utilize any of the three ferrioxamines tested. A strain carrying the nonpolar foxA mutation exhibited a significantly reduced ability to colonize rabbit ileal loops compared to the foxA+ parent. In addition, a foxA mutant was markedly attenuated in mice inoculated by either the intragastric or intravenous route. Mice inoculated with the foxA mutant were protected against subsequent challenge by the foxA+ parent strain.  (+info)

The iron regulatory protein can determine the effectiveness of 5-aminolevulinic acid in inducing protoporphyrin IX in human primary skin fibroblasts. (8/1100)

The level of endogenous photosensitiser, protoporphyrin IX (PPIX), can be enhanced in the cells by 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). We investigated the effect of critical parameters such as growth state of the cells and availability of intracellular iron in modulating the level of PPIX, in human primary cultured skin fibroblasts (FEK4) maintained either in exponentially growing or growth-arrested phase, following treatment with ALA. The addition of ALA to exponentially growing cells increased the level of PPIX 6-fold relative to control cells; however, in growth-arrested cells the same treatment increased the level of PPIX up to 34-fold. The simultaneous addition of the hydrophilic iron-chelator Desferal with ALA, boosted the level of PPIX up to 47-fold in growing cells and up to 42-fold in growth-arrested cells, suggesting that iron is limiting under the latter conditions. The strict dependence of PPIX enhancement on free available iron levels was examined by the level of activation of iron regulatory protein in band shift assays. This analysis revealed that the basal level of iron regulatory protein in growth-arrested cells was 6-fold higher than in growing cells, reflecting the influence of the free available iron pool in exponentially growing cells. Interestingly, the same ratio was found between the basal level concentration of PPIX in growing and growth-arrested cells. We propose that iron regulatory protein activation could serve as a marker for developing photodynamic therapy protocols because it identifies cells and tissues with a propensity to accumulate PPIX and it is therefore likely to predict the effectiveness of such therapies.  (+info)