Involvement of polyamines in iron(III) transport in human intestinal Caco-2 cell lines

Natural polyamines such as putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm), which are present in the human diet in large amounts, associated with their active transporter, are assumed to play a role in non-heme iron uptake and iron bioavailability from nutrients. Enterocytes and hepatocytes play pivotal roles in the regulation of body iron homeostasis. In this study, we report the effects of natural polyamines on iron transport in the Caco-2 cell line. In enterocyte-like Caco-2 cells, polyamines did not significantly modulate the transepithelial iron flux across the cell monolayer cultured on permeable membranes. In contrast, Spd, Spm, and to a lesser extent, Put were shown to activate Caco-2 cell iron uptake and to induce an increase in the ferritin level. This iron co-transport in enterocytes, which involved an interaction between iron and polyamine then cell uptake of the polyamine–iron complexes by the polyamine transport system, was more pronounced in proliferating than in differentiated Caco-2 cells. Moreover, it was observed at physiological concentrations of both polyamines and iron. It could thus play a role in the rapid renewal of enterocytes. These data suggest the involvement of polyamines as components of the pool of transferrin-independent iron-chelating vectors. Further investigations are needed to demonstrate their biological relevance in physiological situations.