ABSTRACT
Although studies on the transferrin receptor have appeared in the scientific literature since the pioneering observations made by Jandl and Katz [1], the last seven or eight years have seen a marked increase in the intensity of interest in this receptor. Several reviews on the receptor have appeared recently [2–7]. To an appreciable extent, heightened intensity has developed from the availability of antibodies, both monoclonal and polyclonal, directed against the transferrin receptor that can be used to probe the receptor in different species [8–19]. Two research groups independently and almost simultaneously [11,18] recognized that an antibody directed against a prominent plasma membrane marker on rapidly growing or transformed cells was directed against the transferrin receptor and not against a specific marker of malignant transformation. A fallout of these observations has been the recognition that the transferrin receptor is (a) very antigenic, and (b) quantitatively a major constituent of the glycoprotein makeup of the surface of growing cells.
