Intracellular iron transport in rat intestinal epithelium: biochemical and ultrastructural observations

Iron absorption by the rat intestinal epithelial cell has been studied by differential centrifugation of mucosal homogenates and by electron microscopic autoradiography. Autoradiography of both subcellular pellets and whole gut confirmed the biochemical findings. Mitochondria play a quantitatively significant role in iron metabolism within the epithelial cell but do not take part in the transport of iron across the cell during iron absorption.