Iron Deprivation in Cancer-Potential Therapeutic Implications

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jessical L. Heath, Duke University; Joshua M. Weiss, Duke University; Catherine P. Lavau, Duke University; Daniel Wechsler, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-08-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu5082836
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nutrients
• ISSN: 2072-6643
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 8
• Start Page: 2836
• End Page: 2859
• Keywords: MYELOID-LEUKEMIA CELLS; neuroblastoma; ANTITUMOR-ACTIVITY; ribonucleotide reductase; C-MYC; chelation; POSTTRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION; leukemia; TRANSFERRIN RECEPTOR; IN-VITRO; HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTOR-1-ALPHA; PYRIDOXAL ISONICOTINOYL HYDRAZONE; MAMMALIAN RIBONUCLEOTIDE REDUCTASE; CELL-CYCLE ARREST; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; iron; Science & Technology; cancer; Nutrition & Dietetics
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Pharmacology

Abstract

Iron is essential for normal cellular function. It participates in a wide variety of cellular processes, including cellular respiration, DNA synthesis, and macromolecule biosynthesis. Iron is required for cell growth and proliferation, and changes in intracellular iron availability can have significant effects on cell cycle regulation, cellular metabolism, and cell division. Perhaps not surprisingly then, neoplastic cells have been found to have higher iron requirements than normal, non-malignant cells. Iron depletion through chelation has been explored as a possible therapeutic intervention in a variety of cancers. Here, we will review iron homeostasis in non-malignant and malignant cells, the widespread effects of iron depletion on the cell, the various iron chelators that have been explored in the treatment of cancer, and the tumor types that have been most commonly studied in the context of iron chelation.