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Molecular and Cellular Biology, February 2009, p. 1007-1016, Vol. 29, No. 4
0270-7306/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.01685-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine,1 Eccles Program in Human Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132,2 Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021153
Received 30 October 2008/ Accepted 2 December 2008
Mitoferrin 1 and mitoferrin 2 are homologous members of the mitochondrial solute carrier family. Mitoferrin 1 is required for mitochondrial iron delivery in developing erythrocytes. Here we show that mitoferrin 1 and mitoferrin 2 contribute to mitochondrial iron delivery in a variety of cells. Reductions in mitoferrin 1 and/or mitoferrin 2 levels by RNA interference result in decreased mitochondrial iron accumulation, heme synthesis, and iron-sulfur cluster synthesis. The ectopic expression of mitoferrin 1 in nonerythroid cells silenced for mitoferrin 2 or the expression of mitoferrin 2 in cells silenced for mitoferrin 1 restored heme synthesis to "baseline" levels. The ectopic expression of mitoferrin 2, however, did not support hemoglobinization in erythroid cells deficient in mitoferrin 1. Mitoferrin 2 could not restore heme synthesis in developing erythroid cells because of an inability of the protein to accumulate in mitochondria. The half-life of mitoferrin 1 was increased in developing erythroid cells, while the half-life of mitoferrin 2 did not change. These results suggest that mitochondrial iron accumulation is tightly regulated and that controlling mitoferrin levels within the mitochondrial membrane provides a mechanism to regulate mitochondrial iron levels.
Published ahead of print on 15 December 2008.
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