Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

p53 tumor suppressor and iron homeostasis

Iron is an essential nutrient for all living organisms and plays a vital role in many fundamental biochemical processes, such as oxygen transport, energy metabolism, and DNA synthesis. Due to its capability to produce free radicals, iron has deleterious effects and thus, its level needs to be tightly controlled in the body. Deregulation of iron metabolism is known to cause diseases, including anemia by iron deficiency and hereditary hemochromatosis by iron overload. Interestingly, dysregulated iron metabolism occurs frequently in tumor cells and contributes to tumorigenesis. In this review, we will discuss the role of p53 tumor suppressor in iron homeostasis

Distribution and origin of the basement membrane component perlecan in rat liver and primary hepatocyte culture.

Basement membranes contain three major components (ie collagen IV, laminin, and the heparan sulfate proteoglycan termed perlecan). Although the distribution and origin of both collagen IV and laminin have been well documented in the liver, perlecan has been poorly investigated, so far. We have studied the distribution and cellular origin of perlecan in rat livers in various conditions as well as in hepatocyte primary culture. By immunolocalization in both adult and 18-day-old fetal liver, perlecan was found in portal spaces, around central veins, and throughout the lobule. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed its presence at the level of basement membranes surrounding bile ducts and blood vessels, and in the space of Disse discontinuously interacting with hepatocyte microvilli. Precursors of perlecan were detected in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of bile duct cells and both vascular and sinusoidal endothelial cells. Both hepatocytes and Ito cells were negative. Northern-blot analysis confirmed the lack of appreciable expression of perlecan in hepatocytes isolated from either fetal or adult livers. In 18-month-diethylnitrosamine-treated rat liver, perlecan was abundant in neoplastic nodules. Electron microscopic investigation revealed an almost continuous layer of perlecan in the space of Disse and intracellular staining in sinusoidal endothelial cells, only. Perlecan mRNAs were detectable in malignant nodules, and absent in hepatocytes from nontumorous areas. Hepatocytes expressed high levels of perlecan mRNAs only when put in culture. This expression was reduced in conditions that allow improvement of hepatocyte survival and function (ie addition of corticoids, dimethylsulfoxide or nicotinamide to the medium, or in coculture with liver epithelial cells from biliary origin). Immunolocalization by light and electron microscopy showed that deposition of the proteoglycan occurred in coculture, in basement membranelike structures located around hepatocyte cords. In vitro attachment assay of hepatocytes on purified perlecan substrate indicated that these cells may interact with the proteoglycan through integrins which belong to the beta 1 family. These data suggest that deposition of perlecan in the space of Disse requires cellular cooperation. This article on perlecan, the third major component of hepatic basement membranes, shows a unique cellular origin in the liver and, as found for both collagen IV and laminin, an expression in adult hepatocytes when place in culture