Abstract
Although essential for most forms of life, too much iron is harmful. To cope with these antagonistic phenomena an iron-storage molecule, ferritin, has evolved. The structure of horse spleen apoferritin, which has recently been refined, consists of 24 symmetrically related subunits forming a near-spherical hollow shell. In ferritin the central cavity is occupied by an iron core of ‘ferrihydrite’, a geologically ephem eral mineral found in hot or cold springs and in mine workings, or produced in the laboratory by heating solutions of ferric salts. Ferritin itself forms most readily from apoferritin, in the presence of dioxygen, from Fe
II
, not Fe
III
. Access to its interior is through small intersubunit channels, and the protein influences both the rate of Fe
II
-oxidation and the form of oxide produced.
Subject
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Business, Management and Accounting,Materials Science (miscellaneous),Business and International Management
Reference72 articles.
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