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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Staphylococcus aureus Growth using Human Hemoglobin as an Iron Source
Published on: February 7, 2013
Binding of iron to human red blood cell membranes
E Baysal1, S G Sullivan, A Stern
1Department of Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, NY 10016.
Abstract:
The binding of Fe3+ to red cell membranes was studied in a system in which lipid peroxidation was proportional to Fe3+ concentration. Binding of Fe3+ was evaluated by labeling with 59FeCl3 and measurement of NMR water-proton relaxation times. Labeling with 59Fe showed that 95% of the Fe3+ was membrane bound at 100 microM FeCl3 in a 1.5 mg protein/ml membrane suspension. Both spin-lattice (T1) and spin-spin (T2) relaxation times decreased with increasing Fe3+ concentration. Addition of red cell membrane suspensions largely prevents the Fe3+ effect on relaxation times. Charge transfer to Fe3+ may occur at the membrane binding site with resultant decrease in the Fe3+ effect on water-proton relaxation times. These studies support the hypothesis that Fe3+ binds to the membrane and generates free radicals at the binding site.
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