Iron and cancer: more ore to be mined

Abstract

Iron is an essential nutrient that facilitates cell proliferation and growth. However, iron also has the capacity to engage in redox cycling and free radical formation. Therefore, iron can contribute to both tumour initiation and tumour growth; recent work has also shown that iron has a role in the tumour microenvironment and in metastasis. Pathways of iron acquisition, efflux, storage and regulation are all perturbed in cancer, suggesting that reprogramming of iron metabolism is a central aspect of tumour cell survival. Signalling through hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and WNT pathways may contribute to altered iron metabolism in cancer. Targeting iron metabolic pathways may provide new tools for cancer prognosis and therapy.

An Apoferritin‐based Drug Delivery System for the Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Gefitinib

“…[ 20,24,32 ] TfR1 is associated with uptake of H-AFt and is more highly expressed in cancer cells compared to normal human cells. [ 12 ] It has been found that the expression of TfR1 correlates with tumor stage or cancer progression. [ 4 ] Iron is required by many cellular processes such as metabolism and DNA synthesis.…”

“…DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201500389 endocytosis of ferritin have been found in neoplastic cells, [ 11 ] and were associated with membrane-specifi c transferrin receptors (TfR) that are highly expressed in many cancers [ 12 ] including breast and brain cancer cells. [ 12,13 ] The unique architecture of AFt provides two interfaces: the outer surface of AFt can be modifi ed chemically or genetically with functional motifs [ 14 ] and the internal cavity can be used to encapsulate pharmaceutical agents such as anticancer drugs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fl uorescent imaging agents.…”

“…[ 12,13 ] The unique architecture of AFt provides two interfaces: the outer surface of AFt can be modifi ed chemically or genetically with functional motifs [ 14 ] and the internal cavity can be used to encapsulate pharmaceutical agents such as anticancer drugs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fl uorescent imaging agents. [ 6,9,15,16 ] Recently, selective targeting and cargo delivery with heavy chain apoferritin (H-AFt) was demonstrated both in vitro [ 17 ] and in vivo.…”

Redox state markers of tumors in patients with colorectal cancer

“…Поряд із цим, активнопроліферуючі пухлинні клітини потребу-ють значної кількості заліза. Ось чому в пухлинній тканині часто реєструють підвищені рівні фери-тину, ЛФ, ТФ та його рецепторів [7][8][9].…”

Mitochondrial autophagy promotes healthy aging

“…4 And notably, we showed that reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin, which we previously found to be overexpressed in different types of cancers, induces mitophagy in an evolutionarily conserved manner. 4 In order to maintain tumor microenvironment and metastasis cancerous cells often experience excessive iron accumulation by reprogramming iron metabolism 7 and altering mitophagy execution. 3 Therefore, iron starvation induction of mitophagy, via making mitochondria work at the optimal level, might be an effective and novel strategy for treating cancer, especially when considering the variety of possible mitochondrial targeting interventions.…”