Human Iron Metabolism - Regulation By Location

Regulation By Location

Regulation of iron levels is a task of the whole body, as well as for individual cells.

When body levels of iron are too low, hepcidin in the duodenal epithelium is decreased. This allows an increase in ferroportin activity, stimulating iron uptake in the digestive system. When there is an iron surplus, more hepcidin is released thus blocking additional ferroportin activity, resulting in less iron uptake.

In individual cells, an iron deficiency causes responsive element binding protein to iron responsive elements on mRNA for transferrin receptors, resulting in increased production of transferrin receptors. These receptors increase binding of transferrin to cells, and therefore stimulating iron uptake.