Iron Acquired from Transferrin by K562 Cells Is Delivered into a Cytoplasmic Pool of Chelatable Iron(II)

doi:10.1074/jbc.270.41.24209

Iron Acquired from Transferrin by K562 Cells Is Delivered into a Cytoplasmic Pool of Chelatable Iron(II) (*)

From the Department of Biological Chemistry, Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

^§ To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 972-2-6585441; Fax: 972-2-6586974.

Abstract

The release of iron from transferrin (Tf) in the acidic milieu of endosomes and its translocation into the cytosol are integral steps in the process of iron acquisition via receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME). The translocated metal is thought to enter a low molecular weight cytoplasmic pool, presumed to contain the form of iron which is apparently sensed by iron responsive proteins and is the direct target of iron chelators. The process of iron delivery into the cytoplasmic chelatable pool of K562 cells was studied in situ by continuous monitoring of the fluorescence of cells loaded with the metal-sensitive probe calcein. Upon exposure to Tf at 37°C, intracellular fluorescence decayed, corresponding to an initial iron uptake of 40 nM/min. The Tf-mediated iron uptake was profoundly inhibited by weak bases, the protonophore monensin, energy depletion, or low temperatures (<25°C), all properties characteristic of RME. Cell iron levels were affected by the slowly permeating chelator desferrioxamine only after prolonged incubations. Conversely, rapidly penetrating, lipophilic iron(II) chelators such as 2,2′-bipyridyl, evoked swift increases in cell calcein fluorescence, equivalent to sequestration of 0.2-0.5 μM cytosolic iron, depending on the degree of pre-exposure to Tf. Addition of iron(III) chelators to permeabilized 2,2′-bipyridyl-treated cells, failed to reveal significant levels of chelatable iron(III). The finding that the bulk of the in situ cell chelatable pool is comprised of iron(II) was corroborated by pulsing K562 cells with Tf-Fe, followed by addition of iron(II) and/or iron(III) chelators and extraction of chelator-Fe complexes into organic solvent. Virtually all of the accumulated Fe in the chelatable pool could be complexed by iron(II) chelators. The cytoplasmic concentration of iron(II) fluctuated between 0.3 and 0.5 μM, and its mean transit time through the chelatable pool was 1-2 h. We conclude that after iron is translocated from the endosomes, it is maintained in the cytosol as a transit pool of chelatable iron(II). The ostensible absence of chelatable iron(III) implicates the intracellular operation of vigorous reductive mechanisms.

Footnotes

↵* This work was supported in part by the Israel National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health Grant AI20342. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore by hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
↵¹ The abbreviations used are:

Tf

transferrin

RME

receptor-mediated endocytosis

BIP

2,2′-Bipyridyl

PDT

3-(2-pyridyl)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine

DFO

desferrioxamine methylsulfonate

PHE

1,10-phenanthroline

SIH

salicylaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone

PIH

pyridoxal isonicotinoyl hydrazone

FAS

ferrous ammonium sulfate

DTPA

diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid

BPS

bathophenanthroline disulfonic acid

MAD

methylanthranilic acid-DFO

NTA

nitrilotriacetic acid

MEM

minimum essential medium

AM

acetoxymethyl ester.
↵²H. Glickstein and Z. I. Cabantchik, unpublished data.
- Received May 22, 1995.
- Revision received July 28, 1995.