ABSTRACT
The notion that cells of the immunological systemhave a role in the surveillance of iron toxicitywasfirst put forward in1978 (1). Twenty-five years ago, the exercise of such a function could
only be visualized through the association of ‘‘classical’’ iron binding and storage proteins with the major immune cell sets (Table 1) (2-23). The last seven of those 25 years have seen an extraordinary explosion in the identification of genes and proteins involved in the regulation of iron metabolism (for review, see Ref. 24). A significant proportion of the new ‘‘iron genes,’’ however, is related to the immune systemand=or has a function in innate immunity (Table 1) (25). On the other hand, a number of immunological molecules such as b2 microglobulin (b2m), MHC-class I and HFE have been shown to have a role in iron metabolism (26-28). Finally, another family of immune cell proteins, the cytokines, is now known to have significant roles in cellular and systemic iron metabolism (29).
