Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Lynn Dover
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
The ability of pathogens to obtain iron from transferrins, ferritin, hemoglobin, and other iron-containing proteins of their host is central to whether they live or die. To combat invading bacteria, animals go into an iron-withholding mode and also use a protein (Nramp1) to generate reactive oxygen species in an attempt to kill the pathogens. Some invading bacteria respond by producing specific iron chelators-siderophores-that remove the iron from the host sources. Other bacteria rely on direct contact with host iron proteins, either abstracting the iron at their surface or, as with heme, takings it up into the cytoplasm. The expression of a large number of genes (>40 in some cases) is directly controlled by the prevailing intracellular concentration of Fe(II) via its complexing to a regulatory protein (the Fur protein or equivalent). Tn this way, the biochemistry of the bacterial cell can accommodate the challenges from the host. Agents that interfere with bacterial iron metabolism may prove extremely valuable for chemotherapy of diseases.
Author(s): Ratledge C, Dover LG
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Annual Review of Microbiology
Year: 2000
Volume: 54
Issue: 1
Pages: 881-941
Print publication date: 01/01/2000
ISSN (print): 0066-4227
ISSN (electronic): 1545-3251
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.micro.54.1.881
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.micro.54.1.881
