iron transport tagged posts

The small molecule hinokitiol transports iron across cell membranes where transport proteins are missing. Credit: Julie McMahon and Liz Ahlberg Touchstone, University of Illinois

“If you’re sick because you have too much protein function, in many cases we can do something about it. But if you’re sick because you’re missing a protein that does an essential function, we struggle to do anything other than treat the symptoms. It’s a huge unmet medical need,” said Burke, who also is a medical doctor. Burke’s team found that a small molecule called hinokitiol, derived from a species of cypress tree found in Japan, can transport iron across cell membranes that are missing transport proteins.

In a healthy system, transport proteins move iron across cell membranes to uptake iron from the gut or mak...