Mechanistic studies of mitochondrial ferritin, a key player in iron mediated oxidative stress response and cellular iron metabolism

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Iron is essential for virtually all forms of life, playing central roles in many of the reactions on which life depends. In animals, including humans, many of the iron-containing cofactors that are essential are synthesized in a cellular organelle called the mitochondrion, which consequently has a high requirement for iron and can be regarded as the major cellular hub for iron metabolism. Despite its importance, we currently have a rather incomplete picture of how iron is regulated in mitochondria. An important player in this is mitochondrial ferritin, a member of the remarkable ferritin family of proteins. Ferritins can be thought of as being football-like molecules with a hollow centre in which thousands of iron atoms can be stored in the form of an iron mineral - one that would form insoluble precipitates were it not for the solubilising effect of the protein coat. The storage of iron serves two important functions. Firstly, it enables cells to draw on reserves when iron is low, and secondly, it overcomes the potential toxicity of iron that results from the very properties that make it useful to life: without proper control, iron can lead to the generation of reactive oxygen species that can cause severe cellular damage. The function of mitochondrial ferritin appears to be principally one of protecting against iron toxicity. Accordingly, it is only expressed in tissues that are metabolically highly active with a high turnover of oxygen, and consequently particularly susceptible to oxidative stress. These tissues include heart, testis and brain neurones, and it has been shown that this ferritin protects mitochondria in these cells from oxidative stress. It is presumed that it does this through the sequestration of potentially harmful excess free iron, but the details of this process are unclear. Mitochondrial ferritin also participates in the regulation of iron distribution between different cellular compartments, with increased levels of the protein associated with low cytosolic iron and cytosolic ferritin levels. The reason for this is currently not clear. Finally, mitochondrial ferritin is involved in pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases; its expression levels are increased in a range of disorders, including Parkinson's diseases, Alzheimer's disease, restless legs syndrome and Friedreich's ataxia, but its connection to these diseases is unclear.While studies of the in vivo roles of mitochondrial ferritin are increasing in scope and breadth, understanding of its mechanistic properties - how it interacts with iron and fulfils its cellular function - are lagging behind. Here, we propose a programme of research in which we will apply state of the art methodologies that will lead to important new information about how mitochondrial ferritin binds, oxidises and stores iron, and hence minimises its toxicity. Our preliminary studies have revealed that iron oxidation in mitochondrial ferritin involves protein-based radical formation. We will determine the role that the radical plays in mitochondrial ferritin and, in doing so, we will discover how it prevents the formation of reactive oxygen species that cause oxidative stress. We will also investigate iron release from mitochondrial ferritin, determining whether sequestered iron can be recycled. This will provide important new information about why the expression of mitochondrial ferritin causes iron deficiency in other cellular compartments.