Does the iron transporter transferrin play a role in neurodegenerative diseases?
This release is available in German. Iron is vital to human life; for example, it is a component of hemoglobin, the substance that makes our blood red and supplies our cells with oxygen. However, iron can also cause heavy damage; it is thought that iron deposits in the brain contribute to certain forms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons, Huntington s, and Alzhiemers. A malfunction of the blood transporter transferrin may be to blame. A team led by Peter J. Sadler at the University of Warwick (Coventry, UK) and Sandeep Verma of the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur, India) has now been able to show that transferrin can clump together to form wormlike fibrils. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, this process releases rustlike iron particles. Within the body, iron is present in the form of iron ions with a threefold positive charge (Fe3+) and must always be well wrapped to prevent it from reacting with proteins and causing damage. In blood plasma, iron is carr
