ABSTRACT
Iron is an essential trace element for multicellular organisms and nearly all microorganisms. Although iron is abundant in the environment, common forms of iron are minimally soluble and therefore poorly accessible to biological organisms. Microorganisms entering a mammalian host face multiple mechanisms that further restrict their ability to obtain iron and thereby limit their pathogenicity. Iron levels also modulate host defence, as iron content in macrophages regulates their cytokine production. Here, we review recent advances that highlight the role of systemic and cellular iron-regulating mechanisms in protecting hosts from infection, emphasizing aspects that are applicable to human health and disease.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Infections/immunology , Homeostasis/immunology , Iron-Binding Proteins/immunology , Iron-Regulatory Proteins/immunology , Iron/immunology , Nonheme Iron Proteins/immunology , Animals , Bacterial Infections/microbiology , Bacterial Infections/pathology , Cytokines/genetics , Cytokines/immunology , Gene Expression Regulation , Humans , Immunity, Innate , Inflammation/immunology , Inflammation/microbiology , Inflammation/pathology , Iron/metabolism , Iron-Binding Proteins/genetics , Iron-Regulatory Proteins/genetics , Macrophages/immunology , Macrophages/microbiology , Macrophages/pathology , Nonheme Iron Proteins/genetics , Signal TransductionABSTRACT
AIM: To prepare and characterize antibody against Memo protein and to detect the tissue distribution of Memo in mice. METHODS: Fusion protein GST-Memo was expressed and purified, and polyclonal antibody against Memo was prepared by immunizing mice. A FLAG-tagged eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3-FLAG-Memo was constructed. The specificity of the antibody was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: An eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3-FLAG-Memo was obtained. The polyclonal antibody was found to be specific to Memo. Memo protein was widely expressed in mouse tissues using the obtained antibody in Western blot. CONCLUSION: Antibody specific to Memo has been successfully obtained, which provides useful tool for investigation into Memo-associated mechanisms of tumor metastasis and invasiveness.
