Blood, 1969, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 747-753.
© 1969 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Role of Copper in Iron Localization
in Developing Erythrocytes
JOSEPH R. GOODMAN PH.D.1 and
PETER R. DALLMAN M.D.2
1 Hospital and Department of Pediatrics, University
of California Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.
2 Department
of Pediatrics, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.
The localization of iron in developing erythrocytes of normal and copper-deficient rats was studied by electron microscopy. Lead treatment, by interfering with heme synthesis, resulted in accumulation of iron in mitochondria
and vesicles of the developing erythrocyte in normal animals. In similarly
treated copper-deficient rats, iron did not accumulate in the mitochondria
although it was concentrated in vesicles. The copper-deficient animal, therefore, seems to have an impaired uptake of iron by the mitochondria where
it combines with protoporphyrin to form heme, in addition to the previously
recognized defect in the release of iron into the circulation from the intestinal
mucosa, reticulo-endothelial system and hepatocyte.
Submitted on April 18, 1969
Accepted on June 20, 1969
