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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) for the Study of RNA-Protein Interactions: The IRE/IRP Example
Published on: December 3, 2014
Post-transcriptional regulation of human iron metabolism by iron regulatory proteins
1Section on Human Iron Metabolism, Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, NICHD/NIH, Building 18, Room 101, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. trou@helix.nih.gov
Abstract:
In mammalian iron metabolism, ferritin, transferrin receptor and several other iron metabolism genes are post-transcriptionally regulated. Iron regulatory proteins 1 and 2 are cytosolic proteins that bind to RNA stem-loops known as iron-responsive elements in several transcripts. We have studied the role of these proteins in knockout mice and discovered that misregulation of iron metabolism can be a primary cause of neurodegeneration.
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