木薯FER基因家族的全基因组鉴定和表达分析

植物铁蛋白(Ferritin, FER)既能存储铁,又能响应各种非生物胁迫。该研究基于全基因组水平对木薯(Manihot esculenta)的FER基因家族进行分析,结果表明, 从木薯中共鉴定到4个FER基因,根据系统发育树将木薯FER基因划分为2支,所有成员均包含Euk_Ferritin的功能结构域并位于叶绿体内。木薯FERs基因位于LG7~LG10染色体上;基因共线性分析表明,共有3对潜在的复制基因对,无串联重复事件;Ka/Ks值表明,MeFER同源基因经过了纯化选择;该家族含有响应激素和胁迫诱导的顺式作用元件;qRT-PCR分析表明,MeFER基因的表达具有组织特异性,MeFER4基因响应多种胁迫,且在干旱胁迫下响应最为显著。该研究为木薯FER基因家族的功能研究奠定了基础。     

Isolation and Expression Pattern Analysis of Two Ferritin Genes in Tobacco

For understanding of the ferritin gene expression pattern and the mechanism of iron homeostasis in tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) plants, two full-length ferritin cDNAs, NtFerl and NtFer2, were isolated from tobacco seedlings and characterized. These cDNAs are 1 214 and 1 125 bp nucleotides and encode 25 1 and 259 amino acid residues, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences showed that two tobacco ferritins share the same characteristics as the plant ferritins from Arabidopsis, soybean, and maize.Southern blotting analysis indicated that both NtFerl and NtFer2 were probably multicopy genes in the tobacco genome. Northern blotting analysis indicated that iron loading of tobacco plantlets increased the ferritin mRNA abundance and that NtFerl expression was higher and more sensitive to iron than NtFer2expression. Furthermore, NtFerl was expressed in both leaves and roots, whereas NtFer2 was expressed mainly in leaves.     

Ferritin upregulates hepatic expression of bone morphogenetic protein 6 and hepcidin in mice

Hepcidin is a hepatocellular hormone that inhibits the release of iron from certain cell populations, including enterocytes and reticuloendothelial cells. The regulation of hepcidin (HAMP) gene expression by iron status is mediated in part by the signaling molecule bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6). We took advantage of the low iron status of juvenile mice to characterize the regulation of Bmp6 and Hamp1 expression by iron administered in three forms: 1) ferri-transferrin (Fe-Tf), 2) ferric ammonium citrate (FAC), and 3) liver ferritin. Each of these forms of iron enters cells by distinct mechanisms and chemical forms. Iron was parenterally administered to 10-day-old mice, and hepatic expression of Bmp6 and Hamp1 mRNAs was measured 6 h later. We observed that hepatic Bmp6 expression increased in response to ferritin but was unchanged by Fe-Tf or FAC. Hepatic Hamp1 expression likewise increased in response to ferritin and Fe-Tf but was decreased by FAC. Exogenous ferritin increased Bmp6 and Hamp1 expression in older mice as well. Removing iron from ferritin markedly decreased its effect on Bmp6 expression. Exogenously administered ferritin and the derived iron localized in the liver primarily to sinusoidal lining cells. Moreover, expression of Bmp6 mRNA in isolated adult rodent liver cells was much higher in sinusoidal lining cells than hepatocytes (endothelial > stellate > Kupffer). We conclude that exogenous iron-containing ferritin upregulates hepatic Bmp6 expression, and we speculate that liver ferritin contributes to regulation of Bmp6 and, thus, Hamp1 genes.     

Isolation and Expression Pattern Analysis of Two Ferritin Genes in Tobacco

For understanding of the ferritin gene expression pattern and the mechanism of iron homeostasis in tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) plants, two full-length ferritin cDNAs, NtFerl and NtFer2, were isolated from tobacco seedlings and characterized. These cDNAs are 1 214 and 1 125 bp nucleotides and encode 251 and 259 amino acid residues, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences showed that two tobacco ferritins share the same characteristics as the plant ferritins from Arabidopsis, soybean, and maize. Southern blotting analysis indicated that both NtFerl and NtFer2 were probably multicopy genes in the tobacco genome. Northern blotting analysis indicated that iron loading of tobacco plantlets increased the ferritin mRNA abundance and that NtFerl expression was higher and more sensitive to iron than NtFer2 expression. Furthermore, NtFerl was expressed in both leaves and roots, whereas NtFer2 was expressed mainly in leaves.     

Each Member of the Poly-r(C)-binding Protein 1 (PCBP) Family Exhibits Iron Chaperone Activity toward Ferritin

The mechanisms through which iron-dependent enzymes receive their metal cofactors are largely unknown. Poly r(C)-binding protein 1 (PCBP1) is an iron chaperone for ferritin; both PCBP1 and its paralog PCBP2 are required for iron delivery to the prolyl hydroxylase that regulates HIF1. Here we show that PCBP2 is also an iron chaperone for ferritin. Co-expression of PCBP2 and human ferritins in yeast activated the iron deficiency response and increased iron deposition into ferritin. Depletion of PCBP2 in Huh7 cells diminished iron incorporation into ferritin. Both PCBP1 and PCBP2 were co-immunoprecipitated with ferritin in HEK293 cells, and expression of both PCBPs was required for ferritin complex formation in cells. PCBP1 and -2 exhibited high affinity binding to ferritin in vitro. Mammalian genomes encode 4 PCBPs, including the minimally expressed PCBPs 3 and 4. Expression of PCBP3 and -4 in yeast activated the iron deficiency response, but only PCBP3 exhibited strong interactions with ferritin. Expression of PCBP1 and ferritin in an iron-sensitive, ccc1 yeast strain intensified the toxic effects of iron, whereas expression of PCBP4 protected the cells from iron toxicity. Thus, PCBP1 and -2 form a complex for iron delivery to ferritin, and all PCBPs may share iron chaperone activity.     

Organization of the ferritin genes in Drosophila melanogaster

The organization of two closely clustered genes, Fer1HCH and Fer2LCH, encoding the heavy-chain homolog (HCH) and the light-chain homolog (LCH) subunits of Drosophila melanogaster ferritin are reported here. The 5019-bp sequence of the cluster was assembled from genomic fragments obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of genomic DNA and from sequences obtained from the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP) (http://www.fruitfly.org). These genes, located at position 99F1, have different exon-intron structures (Fer1HCH has three introns and Fer2LCH has two introns) and are divergently transcribed. Computer analysis of the possibly shared promoter regions revealed the presence of putative metal regulatory elements (MREs), a finding consistent with the upregulation of these genes by iron, and putative NF-kappaB-like binding sites. The structure of two other invertebrate ferritin genes, from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (located on chromosomes I and V), was also analyzed. Both nematode genes have two introns, lack iron-responsive elements (IREs), and encode ferritin subunits similar to vertebrate H chains. These findings, along with comparisons of ferritin genes from invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants, suggest that the specialization of ferritin H and L type chains, the complex exon-intron organization of plant and vertebrate genes, and the use of the IRE/iron regulatory protein (IRP) mechanism for regulation of ferritin synthesis are recent evolutionary acquisitions.     

Ferritin contains less iron (59Fe) in cells when the protein pores are unfolded by mutation

Ferric minerals in ferritins are protected from cytoplasmic reductants and Fe2+ release by the protein nanocage until iron need is signaled. Deletion of ferritin genes is lethal; two critical ferritin functions are concentrating iron and oxidant protection (consuming cytoplasmic iron and oxygen in the mineral). In solution, opening/closing (gating) of eight ferritin protein pores controls reactions between external reductant and the ferritin mineral; pore gating is altered by mutation, low heat, and physiological urea (1 mm) and monitored by CD spectroscopy, protein crystallography, and Fe2+ release rates. To study the effects of a ferritin pore gating mutation in living cells, we cloned/expressed human ferritin H and H L138P, homologous to the frog open pore model that was unexpressable in human cells. Human ferritin H L138P behaved like the open pore ferritin model in vitro as follows: (i) normal protein cage assembly and mineralization, (ii) increased iron release (t1/2) decreased 17-fold), and (iii) decreased alpha-helix (8%). Overexpression (> 4-fold), in HeLa cells, showed for ferritin H L138P equal protein expression and total cell 59Fe but increased chelatable iron, 16%, p < 0.01 (59Fe in the deferoxamine-containing medium), and decreased 59Fe in ferritin, 28%, p < 0.01, compared with wild type. The coincidence of decreased 59Fe in open pore ferritin with increased chelatable 59Fe in cells expressing the ferritin open pore mutation suggests that ferritin pore gating influences to the amount of iron (59Fe) in ferritin in vivo.