Iron in Infection and Immunity

By J. Cassat, Eric P. Skaar. Cell Host and Microbe, 2013

1,147 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Iron is an essential nutrient for both humans and pathogenic microbes. Because of its ability to exist in one of two oxidation states, iron is an ideal redox catalyst for diverse cellular processes including respiration and DNA replication. However, the redox potential of iron also contributes to its toxicity, thus iron concentration and distribution must be carefully controlled. Given the absolute requirement for iron by virtually all human pathogens, an important facet of the innate immune system is to limit iron availability to invading microbes in a process termed nutritional immunity. Successful human pathogens must therefore possess mechanisms to circumvent nutritional immunity in order to cause disease. In this review, we discuss regulation of iron metabolism in the setting of infection and delineate strategies used by human pathogens to overcome iron-withholding defenses.

Subfields: Genetics, Hematology, Nutrition and Dietetics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3e3b01a3a7f2c3c3a6f91fcfb42a9ac62bb94c42

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Genetics

1. G. Weiss
2. A. McCready-Vangi
3. Elizabeth A. Grice
4. Victor J. Torres
5. A. Uberoi
6. U. Schaible

In Hematology

1. G. Weiss
2. A. McCready-Vangi
3. Elizabeth A. Grice
4. A. Uberoi
5. U. Schaible

In Nutrition and Dietetics

1. G. Weiss
2. A. McCready-Vangi
3. Elizabeth A. Grice
4. A. Uberoi
5. U. Schaible

Citations in the corpus

• The wound microbiota: microbial mechanisms of impaired wound healing and infection (2024, positive): “The battle for iron is an example of exploitative competition in the wound environment, where microorganisms require iron for their growth and survival and the host requires iron for immunity 141 .”
• Macrophage defense mechanisms against intracellular bacteria (2015, background): “Based on the decisive role of iron for both host immune system and microbe function, it is obvious that iron metabolism is significantly changed during the course of an infection (32, 167, 168).”
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa: pathogenesis, virulence factors, antibiotic resistance, interaction with host, technology advances and emerging therapeutics (2022, background): “Has secretion system participates in iron regulation by secreting an extracellular haem-binding protein (hasAp).(68) Thus far, data relating to T1SS is very limited and its function in pathogenesis and significance for bacterium physiology and fitness are largely unknown, requiring further elucidati”
• Staphylococcus aureus targets the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) to lyse erythrocytes (2015, background): “As with many pathogens (Schaible and Kaufmann, 2004), iron is essential for proliferation and virulence of S. aureus (Cassat and Skaar, 2013).”