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Biomedical subjects

E Huebers

Publications and source records attributed to E Huebers.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

A highly efficient chemical isolation procedure for the rat placental transferrin receptor.

A chemical method for the purification of rat placental transferrin receptor is described. After initial solubilization and concentration by ammonium sulfate precipitation, radioiron-tagged diferric transferrin was added to the dialyzed receptor fraction and subjected to anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel. Elution with a Tris-HCl buffer gradient yields a single fraction of radioactivity containing both free transferrin and the receptor-transferrin as a complex. Further separation of the receptor-transferrin complex from the free transferrin is achieved by gel chromatography on a AcA34-Sepharose 6B separation system. Final purification is obtained by preparative gel electrophoresis in 5% polyacrylamide gels. The receptor was shown to be pure by various methods including HPLC chromatography. The average yield was 20-30 mg receptor-transferrin complex/100 g placental tissue. Because of the purely chemical approach, this method is universally applicable for the isolation of transferrin receptors from various tissues.

Ammonium Sulfate↗
PubMed1988

Iron binding proteins and their roles in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta (L.).

Manduca sexta larvae accumulate large amounts of iron during their larval feeding period. When 59Fe was fed to 5th instar larvae, it was evenly distributed among the hemolymph, gut and carcass until the cessation of feeding. By pupation 95% of the labelled iron was found in the fat body. In the adult a significant portion of this iron was found in flight muscle. Studies of the hemolymph disclosed two iron-containing proteins. The first was composed of a single polypeptide chain of 80 kD, containing one atom of iron. This protein bound ionic iron in vitro and was able to transfer this iron to ferritin when incubated with fat body in vitro. Therefore, it appeared to serve a transport function. The second protein had a molecular weight of 490 kD with subunits of 24 and 26 kD and contained 220 micrograms of iron/mg protein. Its chemical and ultrastructural characteristics were those of ferritin. These studies demonstrate the presence of both a transport protein and a unique circulating ferritin in Manduca sexta, the latter serving a storage function during development and possibly also a transport function.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

The cadmium effect on iron absorption.

Test solutions of cadmium and labeled iron salts, soluble complexes of diferric transferrin, or hemoglobin iron were introduced orally or were injected into tied-off jejunal segments in rat. Cadmium reduced the absorption of iron salts to about half in both normal and iron-deficient rats. Hemoglobin iron absorption was enhanced, indicating that the processing of this form or iron and its release from mucosa to blood was intact. A greater reduction in iron absorption occurred in iron-deficient rats when transferrin iron was injected into gut loops. Mucosal radioiron content in animals given cadmium with either iron salts or transferrin iron was increased. The primary effect of cadmium was on intracellular processing of iron salts and transferrin iron. The major portion of cadmium taken up by the mucosa of normal animals was bound to ferritin, and the effect of cadmium within the mucosal cell may be reduced thus.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Removal of transferrin from fetal bovine serum.

An antiserum against purified fetal bovine serum (FBS) transferrin was produced in rabbits. The isolation of anti-bovine transferrin IgG fraction was achieved by ammonium sulfate precipitation of rabbit hyperimmune plasma followed by ion exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethanol (DEAE) cellulose, at both an acidic and basic pH. The various antibody fractions were analyzed by fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) on a high-resolution mono-Q column. The specificity and efficiency of the antibody fractions obtained were tested by titration of a constant amount of fetal bovine serum with increasing amounts of antibody. The completeness of removal of the fetal bovine serum transferrin resulting from the formation of the highly stable antibody antigen complex was monitored by immunologic and radioisotope methods. The removal of FBS transferrin by this antibody precipitation technique did not interfere with the ability of added iron 59-tagged human transferrin to deliver iron to rat reticulocytes, as shown in an in vivo incubation model. The method proved to be effective for the fast and complete removal of bovine transferrin from fetal bovine serum in vitro and will be a prerequisite for more detailed studies of the interaction of transferrin of different species with tissue receptors on cell lines in culture without resorting to completely defined culture media.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Molecular advantage of diferric transferrin in delivering iron to reticulocytes: a comparative study.

The delivery of transferrin iron from four animal species and man to homologous reticulocytes was measured at different transferrin saturations. Total iron uptake in the in vitro reticulocyte incubation model employed followed a hyperbolic curve, increasing as the transferrin saturation increased but at a progressively slower rate. In all species, there was a much greater iron delivery from diferric as compared to monoferric transferrin, the molecular advantage varying from 8:1 to 14:1. The majority of iron was delivered from diferric transferrin when transferrin saturations exceeded 13-19% depending on the species. Thus a general similarity exists in the transferrin-iron interactions in these mammalian species. Formuli have been provided whereby the iron utilization curve may be calculated when uptake has been determined at any one transferrin saturation.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Occupancy of the iron binding sites of human transferrin.

The in vivo distribution of iron between the binding sites of transferrin was examined. Plasma was obtained from normal subjects under basal conditions and after in vitro and in vivo iron loading. Independent methods, including measurement of the transferrin profile after isoelectric focusing and cross immunoelectrophoresis, and determination of the iron content in the separated fractions were in agreement that there was a random distribution of iron on binding sites. This held true with in vitro loading, when iron was increased by intestinal absorption and with loading from the reticuloendothelial system. The data indicate that the distribution of apo-, monoferric, and diferric transferrins is predictable on the basis of the plasma transferrin saturation and negate the concept that iron loading of transferrin in vitro is a selective process with possible functional consequences in tissue iron delivery.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Heterogeneity of the plasma iron pool: explanation of the Fletcher-Huehns phenomenon.

Observations on iron uptake by reticulocytes led Fletcher and Huehns to suggest differences in the behavior of the two iron-binding sites of the transferrin molecule. To clarify the continued controversy relating to this hypothesis, the original studies employing control plasma labeled with radioiron and the same plasma preincubated with reticulocytes were reexamined. Regardless of whether human or rabbit plasma was employed, there was a considerably higher uptake from the control plasma. Isoelectric focusing procedures and electrophoresis in urea gels revealed that the conspicuous difference in the amount of iron uptake is the result of differences in the proportion of di- to monoferric transferrin in the two plasmas and the competitive advantage of the diferric moiety. These studies provide an explanation for the Fletcher-Huehns phenomenon without invoking functional differences between the two sites for iron on the transferrin molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

A mono-sited transferrin from a representative deuterostome: the ascidian Pyura stolonifera (subphylum Urochordata).

An iron-binding protein has been found in the plasma of Pyura stolonifera. This protein has a molecular weight of about 41,000 +/- 2,000 and binds 1 mol iron/mol protein. The absorption maxima are lambda = 280 and lambda = 429 nm (E429/E280 = 0.044). Bicarbonate is bound concomitantly with high affinity and is necessary for optimal color formation at lambda = 429 nm. The protein showed a negligible exchange of iron with human apotransferrin under physiologic conditions over two hours. Upon incubation with rat reticulocytes, the protein reacts with membrane receptors for transferrins, and the protein, with its iron, is transported intracellularly where the iron is incorporated into heme. The 59Fe protein, after intravenous injection, disappears rapidly from the plasma and is excreted largely in the urine, with a substantial fraction present in the kidney and another large fraction present in the gut. These findings established the protein as a "transferrin" and support the concept that the larger transferrin molecule in vertebrates, with two iron-binding sites, resulted from a gene duplication.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Competitive advantage of diferric transferrin in delivering iron to reticulocytes.

Radioiron- and radioiodine-labeled forms of human diferric and monoferric transferrin and apotransferrin, isolated by preparative isoelectric focusing, were used to define transferrin-iron uptake by human reticulocytes. In mixtures of human diferric and monoferric transferrin, the diferric molecule had a constant 7-fold advantage in delivering iron to reticulocytes, as compared with the 2-fold advantage when single solutions of mono- and diferric transferrins were compared. This was shown to be due to competitive interaction in iron delivery, probably at a common membrane-receptor binding site for transferrin. Apotransferrin did not interfere with the iron-donating process and its limited cellular uptake was inhibited in noncompetitive fashion by diferric transferrin.

Apoproteins↗
PubMed1983

The significance of transferrin for intestinal iron absorption.

A mechanism is proposed by which apotransferrin is secreted from mucosal cells, loaded with iron in the intestinal lumen, and then the intact complex is taken into the cell. Within the cell, iron is released and transferred to the blood stream, whereas iron-free transferrin returns to the brush border to be recycled. We have investigated this hypothesis by measuring intestinal absorption of radioiron and 125I-labeled plasma transferrin using tied-off gut segments in normal and iron-deficient rats. There was no absorption of diferric transferrin from the ileum, but high absorption from the duodenum and jejunum segments. Jejunal absorption occurred as a function of the dose offered and showed saturation kinetics. In normal animals, 4 micrograms of the 50 micrograms of transferrin iron was absorbed over 1 hr. In iron-deficient animals, mean values as high as 13 micrograms were observed. Radioiron content of the jejunal mucosa bore a linear relationship to the dose administered and was inversely proportional to the amount of iron entering the plasma. Recycling of transferrin was indicated by the presence of labeled apotransferrin in the lumen, first observed between 15 and 60 min after the injection of diferric transferrin. A high resistance of diferric and apotransferrin to proteolytic degradation within the gut lumen was demonstrated. Comparative studies with lactoferrin and ferritin disclosed poor availability of their iron for absorption. The small amount that was absorbed did not relate to the iron status of the recipient animal. These studies support the role of mucosal transferrin as a shuttle protein for iron absorption.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1981

Interaction of human diferric transferrin with reticulocytes.

Methods have been devised for preparing human transferrin with a different isotope of iron selectively labeling each of the two iron binding sites and for determining the distribution of radioiron among transferrin molecules. When diferric human transferrin was exposed to human or animal reticulocytes, there was an equal contribution of radioiron from the acid-stable and acid-labile sites. In this delivery, both atoms of iron were removed simultaneously from the diferric transferrin molecule, converting it to apotransferrin. At similar iron concentrations the amount of iron delivered by diferric transferrin was twice that delivered by monoferric transferrin.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Uptake and release of iron from human transferrin.

Purified fractions of human apotransferrin, monoferric transferrins with iron on the acid-labile binding site and on the acid-stable binding site, and diferric transferrin have been prepared. The iron loading and unloading behavior of these preparations has been examined by isoelectric focusing. Iron release from the two monoferric transferrin preparations to human reticulocytes was of similar magnitude. In a mixture containing equal amounts of diferic and monoferric iron, approximately 4 times the amount of iron delivered by the monoferric species was delivered by the diferric species. Iron loading of transferrin in vitro showed a random distribution between monoferric and diferric transferrin. Among the monoferric transferrins, loading of the acid-labile binding sites was greater than that of the acid-stable binding sites. In vivo iron distribution in normal subjects, as evaluated by in vitro-added 50Fe, gave similar results. Absorption of a large dose of orally administered iron in iron-deficient subjects resulted in a somewhat greater amount of diferric transferrin at low saturation and a somewhat smaller amount of diferric transferrin at higher saturations than would have been anticipated by random loading. These data would indicate that in the human, iron loading of transferrin may be considered essentially random. Unloading from the two monoferric transferrin species is of similar magnitude but far less than that delivered by diferric transferrin.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1981

The behavior of transferrin iron in the rat.

The behavior of rat transferrin has been investigated employing acrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. In vitro trace labeling with iron chelates at 30 min was 93%-98% effective, whereas binding by simple ferric salts was reduced to 71%-76%. Complete and specific binding of 59FeSO4 by the iron binding sites of transferrin was demonstrated after in vitro or in vivo addition of ferrous ammonium sulfate in pH 2 saline up to the point of iron saturation. In vitro the radioriron transferrin complex in plasma was stable and its iron had a negligible exchange with other transferrin binding sites over several hours. The distribution of radioiron added in vitro or through absorption was shown to be random between the binding sites of slow and fast transferrin molecule. Iron distribution among body tissues was similar for mono- and diferric transferrin iron and was not affected by the site distribution of iron on the transferrin molecule. The only important aspect of transferrin iron binding was the more rapid tissue uptake of iron in the diferric form was compared to monoferric transferrin. Additional in vivo effects on internal iron exchange were produced by changes in the iron balance of the animal. In the iron loaded animal, monoferric transferrin injected into the plasma was rapidly loaded by iron from tissue and thereby converted to diferric transferrin. Injection of diferric transferrin in the iron deficient animal was associated with a rapid disappearance from circulation of the original complex and a subsequent appearance of monoferric transferrin as a result of iron returning from tissues. These observations support the concept that plasma iron behaves as a single pool except that diferric iron exchange occurs at a more rapid rate than dose monoferric iron exchange.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Iron uptake from rat plasma transferrin by rat reticulocytes.

Fast and slow rat transferrins were isolated by isoelectric focusing and prepared in their di- and monoferric forms. A comparison of the rates of iron release between fast and slow monoferric transferrins when incubated with reticulocytes or injected in vivo showed no significant difference in the behavior of the two isotransferrin species. Reticulocyte uptake of diferric transferrin resulted in the removal of both iron atoms from the transferrin molecule. A twofold greater iron uptake was observed from diferric as compared with monoferric iron, provided reticulocyte receptors were saturated. It is concluded that the two species of transferrin and their individual sites function similarly in their release of iron to tissue receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Isolation and characterization of iron-binding proteins from rat intestinal mucosa.

Two iron-binding proteins were isolated from rat intestinal mucosa. From determination of their molecular weights, their electrophoretic and iron-binding properties it was established that one was a mucosal ferritin and the other a mucosal transferrin. The mucosal ferritin is compared in its molecular weight, isoelectric point, amino acid composition and tryptic peptide pattern with the ferritins of rat spleen and liver. All three ferritins are distinctly different from one another. In addition the iron content of mucosal ferritin was found to be much lower than that of liver and spleen ferritins. Mucosal transferrin was separated into two components by isoelectric focusing, as was plasma transferrin. The plasma and mucosal transferrins differ in their isoelectric points and in their amino acid compositions. Differences were also found in vitro in the iron-binding of mucosal transferrin as compared with plasma transferrin. The role of these mucosal proteins in the absorption of iron is briefly discussed.

Amino Acids↗