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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Quantifiable and Inexpensive Cell-Free Fluorescent Method to Confirm the Ability of Novel Compounds to Chelate Iron
Published on: February 23, 2024
Advancement of the study on iron metabolism and regulation in tumor cells
Shu-Jun Wang1, Chong Gao, Bao-An Chen
1Department of Hematology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University Clinical Medicine College, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210009, PR China.
Abstract:
As an essential metal for sustaining life, iron is involved in a number of metabolic processes, including DNA synthesis, electron transport, oxygen delivery, and so on. Iron metabolism involves the absorption, transport, and use of iron and is strictly regulated. Numerous studies have found a positive correlation between iron storage and the risk of tumors, such as colorectal carcinoma, hepatic cancer, renal carcinoma, lung cancer, and gastric cancer. In tumor cells, iron metabolism changes by several mechanisms, such as regulating the growth of tumor cells by transferrin, accelerating the uptake of iron by the overexpressions of transferrin receptors 1 and 2 (TfR1 and TfR2), synthesizing or secreting ferritin by some malignant tumor cells, and upregulating the level of hepcidin in patients with cancer. Some advances on diagnosis and treatment based on iron metabolism have been achieved, such as increasing the transfection and target efficiency of transferrin-polyethylenimine (PEI), inducing cell apoptosis by beta-guttiferin through interacting with TfR1.
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