{"title":"Iron and the immune system","authors":"Joe N. Frost, Hal Drakesmith","doi":"10.1038/s41577-025-01193-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Iron is a cofactor for hundreds of enzymes and biochemical processes that support cellular metabolism across the kingdoms of life. Because of this, the host and pathogen compete for iron as a vital resource. Moreover, research has shown that iron acquisition and iron trafficking have substantial effects on the immune system. This is especially important because iron-related disorders — both deficiency and overload — are common worldwide. In this Review, we describe how immune cells acquire and use iron, which branches of the immune system are most affected by iron and how changes in iron availability can affect infectious diseases, autoinflammatory disorders and antitumour immunity. We also discuss key unanswered questions and potential therapeutic opportunities to manipulate immunity by controlling iron trafficking.</p>","PeriodicalId":19049,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Immunology","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":67.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Reviews Immunology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-025-01193-y","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"IMMUNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Iron is a cofactor for hundreds of enzymes and biochemical processes that support cellular metabolism across the kingdoms of life. Because of this, the host and pathogen compete for iron as a vital resource. Moreover, research has shown that iron acquisition and iron trafficking have substantial effects on the immune system. This is especially important because iron-related disorders — both deficiency and overload — are common worldwide. In this Review, we describe how immune cells acquire and use iron, which branches of the immune system are most affected by iron and how changes in iron availability can affect infectious diseases, autoinflammatory disorders and antitumour immunity. We also discuss key unanswered questions and potential therapeutic opportunities to manipulate immunity by controlling iron trafficking.
期刊介绍：
Nature Reviews Immunology is a journal that provides comprehensive coverage of all areas of immunology, including fundamental mechanisms and applied aspects. It has two international standard serial numbers (ISSN): 1474-1733 for print and 1474-1741 for online. In addition to review articles, the journal also features recent developments and new primary papers in the field, as well as reflections on influential people, papers, and events in the development of immunology. The subjects covered by Nature Reviews Immunology include allergy and asthma, autoimmunity, antigen processing and presentation, apoptosis and cell death, chemokines and chemokine receptors, cytokines and cytokine receptors, development and function of cells of the immune system, haematopoiesis, infection and immunity, immunotherapy, innate immunity, mucosal immunology and the microbiota, regulation of the immune response, signalling in the immune system, transplantation, tumour immunology and immunotherapy, and vaccine development.
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