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Updated: May 17, 2026

Quantitating Iron Transport Across the Mouse Placenta In Vivo Using Nonradioactive Iron Isotopes
Published on: May 10, 2022
mTOR regulates cellular iron homeostasis through tristetraprolin
Marina Bayeva1, Arineh Khechaduri, Sergi Puig
1Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Abstract:
Iron is an essential cofactor with unique redox properties. Iron-regulatory proteins 1 and 2 (IRP1/2) have been established as important regulators of cellular iron homeostasis, but little is known about the role of other pathways in this process. Here we report that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates iron homeostasis by modulating transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) stability and altering cellular iron flux. Mechanistic studies identify tristetraprolin (TTP), a protein involved in anti-inflammatory response, as the downstream target of mTOR that binds to and enhances degradation of TfR1 mRNA. We also show that TTP is strongly induced by iron chelation, promotes downregulation of iron-requiring genes in both mammalian and yeast cells, and modulates survival in low-iron states. Taken together, our data uncover a link between metabolic, inflammatory, and iron-regulatory pathways, and point toward the existence of a yeast-like TTP-mediated iron conservation program in mammals.
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