Ferritin (Ft) is a large iron-binding protein (~450 kDa) that is found in plant and animal cells and can sequester up to 4,500 iron (Fe) atoms per Ft molecule. Our previous studies on intestinal Caco-2 cells have shown that dietary factors affect the uptake of Fe from ferritin in a manner different from that of Fe from FeSO 4 , suggesting a different mechanism for cellular uptake. The objective of this study was to determine the mechanism for Ft-Fe uptake using Caco-2 cells. Binding of 59 Fe-labeled Ft at 4° C showed saturable kinetics and Scatchard analysis resulted in a K D of 1.6 μM, strongly indicating a receptor-mediated process. Competitive binding studies with excess unlabelled Ft significantly reduced binding and uptake studies at 37° C showed saturation after 4 h. Enhancing and blocking endocytosis using Mas-7 (a G-protein activator) and hypertonic medium (0.5 M sucrose), respectively, demonstrated that Ft-Fe uptake by Mas-7 treated cells was 140% of control cells, whereas sucrose treatment resulted in a statistically significant reduction in Ft-Fe uptake by 70% as compared to controls. Inhibition of macropinocytosis with 5-(N,N-dimethyl)-amiloride (Na + /H + antiport blocker) resulted in a decrease (by ~20%) in Ft-Fe uptake at high concentrations of Ft, suggesting that enterocytes can use more than one Ft-uptake mechanism in a concentration dependent manner. These results suggest that Ft uptake by enterocytes is carried out via endocytosis when Ft levels are within a physiological range, whereas Ft at higher concentrations may be absorbed using the additional mechanism of macropinocytosis.