Protein Interactions at the Transferrin Receptor Gene Promoter
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
The transferrin receptor (TR) is the vehicle through which transferrin delivers iron to the intracellular compartment. Transferrin binds to the receptor at the cell surface and is internalized through coated pits into an acidic intracellular compartment where iron is released. The receptor and ligand are then recycled to the surface to be reutilized. Through this process iron is made available for heme-containing proteins, oxidative enzymes, and other iron-requiring enzymes. Consequently, there is a requirement for expression of TRs on nearly all cell types.
Under certain physiological conditions, there is a need for greatly increased expression of the TR. Maturing erythrocytes, for example, require a large supply of iron for hemoglobin synthesis. This requirement is met by an increase in TRs at the cell surface (Hu et al. 1977).
Increased expression of the TR is also coupled to cell proliferation. High levels of the receptor are found on rapidly dividing cells...
