AB STRA C T Reticulocytosis was induced in rabbits with phenylhydrazine. The accumulation of a small part of 59Fe in blood cells of these animals was inhibited by ouabain and related to changes in extracellular sodium and potassium concentrations. Sodium increases movement from the cell surface into the cell, whereas potassium and ouabain decrease this movement. 59Fe movement was found to be temperature-dependent. Thus, the Na-K ATPase system appears to be important in the movement of iron from the cell membrane (stroma) to the cell interior, but influences only a small part of the total iron transport.
I N T R O D U C T I O NMovement of iron into the developing red cell is a complex process characterized by (a) formation of an iron-transferrin complex in the plasma, (b) attachment of this complex to a specialized cell surface receptor, (c) release of iron to form a new iron-protein complex, possibly ferritin, and finally (d) the utilization of iron in hemoglobin or other iron compounds in the cell.Katz and J a n d l have reviewed the role of transferrin in the transport of iron to the developing red cell and indicate that iron is delivered by an iron-transferrin complex that becomes attached to the cell surface (1). The metal is actively removed and incorporated in the cell and apparently the transferrin is then displaced by other iron-bearing molecules. In earlier work J a n d l and others showed that iron uptake by the reticulocyte is blocked by several metabolic inhibitors and low oxygen tension (2). Later J a n d l and Katz concluded that, like the uptake of iron, the attachment of transferrin to the surface of the reticulocyte is blocked by such agents as cyanide and 2 , 4 -D N P (3). Morgan has reported studies on interaction between rabbit, human, and rat transferrin and reticulocytes and observed that uptake of transferrin by cells takes place in two steps: first, the formation of a weak union probably by