Intravesicular pH and iron uptake by immature erythroid cells

The intravesicular pH of intact rabbit reticulocytes was measured by two methods; one based on the intracellular:extracellular distribution of DMO (5, 5, dimethyl + oxazolidin-2,4-dione), methylamine, and chloroquine and the other by quantitative fluorescence microscopy of cell-bound transferrin. The latter method was also applied to nucleated erythroid cells from the fetal rat liver. A pH value of approximately 5.4 was obtained with both methods and in both types of cells. Treatment of the cells with lysosomotrophic agents, metabolic inhibitors, and ionophores elevated the intravesicular pH and inhibited iron uptake from transferrin. When varying concentrations of NH4Cl were used, a close correlation was observed between the inhibition of iron uptake and elevation of the intravesicular pH. At pH 5.4 iron release from rabbit iron-bicarbonate transferrin in vitro was much more rapid than from iron-oxalate transferrin. The bicarbonate complex donates its iron to rabbit reticulocytes approximately twice as quickly as the oxalate complex. It is concluded that the acidic conditions within the vesicles provide the mechanism for iron release from the transferrin molecule after its endocytosis and that the low vesicular pH is dependent on cellular metabolism.