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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Quantitating Iron Transport Across the Mouse Placenta In Vivo Using Nonradioactive Iron Isotopes
Published on: May 10, 2022
Intracellular iron availability modulates the requirement for Leishmania Iron Regulator 1 (LIR1) during macrophage
Amrita Sarkar1, Norma W Andrews1, Maria Fernanda Laranjeira-Silva2
1Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Abstract:
The Leishmania plasma membrane transporter Leishmania Iron Regulator 1 (LIR1) facilitates iron export and is required for parasite virulence. By modulating macrophage iron content, we investigated the host site where LIR1 regulates Leishmania amazonensis infectivity. In bone marrow-derived macrophages, LIR1 null mutants demonstrated a paradoxical increase in virulence during infections in heme-depleted media, while wild-type growth was inhibited under the same conditions. Loading the endocytic pathway of macrophages with cationized ferritin prior to infection reversed the effect of heme depletion on both strains. Thus, LIR1 contributes to Leishmania virulence by protecting the parasites from toxicity resulting from iron accumulation inside parasitophorous vacuoles.
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