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Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans

Iron is the most abundant transition metal in the human body and its bioavailability is stringently controlled. In particular, iron is tightly bound to host proteins such as transferrin to maintain homeostasis, to limit potential damage caused by iron toxicity under physiological conditions and to r...

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Autores principales: Caza, Mélissa, Kronstad, James W.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3832793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24312900
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2013.00080
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author Caza, Mélissa
Kronstad, James W.
author_facet Caza, Mélissa
Kronstad, James W.
author_sort Caza, Mélissa
collection PubMed
description Iron is the most abundant transition metal in the human body and its bioavailability is stringently controlled. In particular, iron is tightly bound to host proteins such as transferrin to maintain homeostasis, to limit potential damage caused by iron toxicity under physiological conditions and to restrict access by pathogens. Therefore, iron acquisition during infection of a human host is a challenge that must be surmounted by every successful pathogenic microorganism. Iron is essential for bacterial and fungal physiological processes such as DNA replication, transcription, metabolism, and energy generation via respiration. Hence, pathogenic bacteria and fungi have developed sophisticated strategies to gain access to iron from host sources. Indeed, siderophore production and transport, iron acquisition from heme and host iron-containing proteins such as hemoglobin and transferrin, and reduction of ferric to ferrous iron with subsequent transport are all strategies found in bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans. This review focuses on a comparison of these strategies between bacterial and fungal pathogens in the context of virulence and the iron limitation that occurs in the human body as a mechanism of innate nutritional defense.
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spelling pubmed-38327932013-12-05 Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans Caza, Mélissa Kronstad, James W. Front Cell Infect Microbiol Microbiology Iron is the most abundant transition metal in the human body and its bioavailability is stringently controlled. In particular, iron is tightly bound to host proteins such as transferrin to maintain homeostasis, to limit potential damage caused by iron toxicity under physiological conditions and to restrict access by pathogens. Therefore, iron acquisition during infection of a human host is a challenge that must be surmounted by every successful pathogenic microorganism. Iron is essential for bacterial and fungal physiological processes such as DNA replication, transcription, metabolism, and energy generation via respiration. Hence, pathogenic bacteria and fungi have developed sophisticated strategies to gain access to iron from host sources. Indeed, siderophore production and transport, iron acquisition from heme and host iron-containing proteins such as hemoglobin and transferrin, and reduction of ferric to ferrous iron with subsequent transport are all strategies found in bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans. This review focuses on a comparison of these strategies between bacterial and fungal pathogens in the context of virulence and the iron limitation that occurs in the human body as a mechanism of innate nutritional defense. Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-11-19 /pmc/articles/PMC3832793/ /pubmed/24312900 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2013.00080 Text en Copyright © 2013 Caza and Kronstad. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Caza, Mélissa
Kronstad, James W.
Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
title Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
title_full Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
title_fullStr Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
title_full_unstemmed Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
title_short Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
title_sort shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3832793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24312900
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2013.00080
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