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CHEM205 Iron Transport and Storage - OPEN University

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Open University

S343_1
5 Hours 

Level
Advanced

Course Home (Click Here)

Course Description

In this unit we will see that, despite having a high natural abundance, iron is in very short supply because of the insolubility of its oxides and hydroxides. A result of this is that organisms have developed methods for the uptake, transport and storage of iron. For example, iron storage in mammals, including humans, is achieved by ferritin, which stores iron as a hydrated iron(III) oxide – an example of biomineralisation.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

  • describe some of the biochemical methods by which organisms uptake iron;
  • describe some of the biochemical processes by which organisms store and transfer iron;
  • explain why iron is present only in very low concentrations in aqueous solution;
  • use aspects of iron(III) chemistry to explain the role of macrocyclic ligands in iron uptake and transfer.


 

Introduction

  • Introduction Resource
  • In this unit we will see that, despite having a high natural abundance, iron is in very short supply because of the insolubility of its oxides and hydroxides. A result of this is that organisms have developed...

 

1 How do organisms acquire iron?

  • 1 How do organisms acquire iron? Resource
  • Metals are an essential part of biological chemistry. Of all the trace elements, iron is the most important, especially as it is present in many essential enzymes and proteins. But how do organisms acquire...

 

2 Principles of iron chemistry

 

3 Iron uptake by organisms

  • 3.1 How do organisms take up iron? Resource
  • Nearly all organisms are able to take up iron. However, only a handful of organisms have had their iron-uptake chemistry studied. The organism that has received most attention (other than human) is a single-cell,...
  • 3.2 Removal of iron Resource
  • Before leaving enterobactin to look at iron transport and storage in humans, it is worth asking the question: how does E. coli remove the iron from such a stable complex as the iron(III)–enterobactin once...
  • 3.3 Summary of Section 3 Resource
  • E. coli has a remarkable method of obtaining iron from its environment, which involves the use of very powerful iron chelators, called siderophores.

 

4 Iron transport and storage

  • 4.1 Introduction Resource
  • As bacteria secrete such powerful chelators into the environment, iron in other organisms must be kept under very close control. Any free iron within an organism is likely to be chelated by a siderophore,...
  • 4.2 Iron transport Resource
  • It is obvious that iron must be transported around the human body. Firstly, it must be transported from the food in the gut to the places where it is required. Mostly, iron is required in the bone marrow,...
  • 4.3 Iron storage Resource
  • In humans, iron is stored mainly in the bone marrow, spleen and liver. About 10 per cent of all the iron in the body is in storage. Two proteins are involved in iron storage; these are called ferritin...

 

5 Summary of unit

  • 5 Summary of unit Resource
  • We have seen in this unit that, despite having a high natural abundance, iron is in very short supply because of the insolubility of its oxides and hydroxides. A result of this is that organisms have developed...

 

References and Acknowledgements

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Copyright 2007, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. administrator. (2010, January 28). CHEM205 Iron Transport and Storage - OPEN University. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from Free University Courses OCW Courses OpenCourseWare Freeversity Foundation Web site: http://freeversity.org/science-and-mathematics/chemistry/chem205-iron-transport-and-storage-open-university. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons License