Characterization of mitochondrial iron uptake in HepG2 cells

• DORA INÉS MAZARIEGOS ^[1] ; Z. IOAV CABANTCHIK ^[2] ; BRUCE K CASSELS ^[1] ; MARCO TULIO NÚÑEZ ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Chile

     Universidad de Chile

     Santiago, Chile

     
  2. [2] Hebrew University of Jerusalem

     Hebrew University of Jerusalem

     Israel

     
• Localización: Biological Research, ISSN-e 0717-6287, ISSN 0716-9760, Vol. 39, Nº. 1, 2006, págs. 199-201
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • There is increasing evidence that accumulation of redox-active iron in mitochondria leads to oxidative damage and contributes to various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Friedreich's ataxia and Parkinson's disease. In this work, we examined the existence of regulatory mechanisms for mitochondrial iron uptake and storage. To that end, we used rhodamine B- [(1,10-phenanthrolin-5-yl)amino carbonyl ] benzyl ester, a new fluorescent iron-sensitive probe that is targeted specifically to the mitochondrion. We found that extracellular iron was incorporated readily into mitochondria in an apparently saturable process. Moreover, the rate of iron incorporation responded to the Fe status of the cell, an indication that the mitochondrion actively regulates its iron content.