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Transferrin

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules

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Synonyms

Beta-1 metal-binding globulin; PRO1400; PRO1557; PRO2086; Serotransferrin; Siderophilin; TF; TFQTL1; Transferrin

Historical Background

Transferrin is a secreted glycoprotein that transports ferric iron (Fe3+) from extracellular fluids to tissues. It was first documented as “iron-binding component” of human blood plasma back in 1946. The “iron-binding component” was subsequently purified, biochemically characterized, and named transferrin. A similar protein from egg white (ovotransferrin) was previously reported to inhibit bacterial and yeast growth via its iron-binding capacity. A historical account of the early discovery and characterization of transferrin can be found in an excellent review article (Morgan 1981). Functional studies demonstrated that plasma transferrin delivers iron to developing erythroid cells upon binding to cell surface transferrin receptors. The mechanism involves internalization of iron-loaded transferrin within the recipient cell, release of iron...

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopion University, Athens, Greece

    George Papanikolaou

  2. Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève, Genève, GE, Switzerland

    Konstantinos Gkouvatsos

  3. Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Kostas Pantopoulos

Authors
  1. George Papanikolaou
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  2. Konstantinos Gkouvatsos
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  3. Kostas Pantopoulos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kostas Pantopoulos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Biological Science, Department of Molecular Science and Tech College of Natural Science, Suwon, Korea (Republic of)

    Sangdun Choi

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Papanikolaou, G., Gkouvatsos, K., Pantopoulos, K. (2016). Transferrin. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6438-9_101940-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6438-9_101940-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6438-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6438-9

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