Figure 3.
Essential role of iron for various cell types. Iron is needed by many different cell types to perform very distinct functions from oxygen carrying abilities of red blood cells (RBCs) to oxygen storage in muscle cells. Moreover, iron dysregulation has been observed in the pathogenesis of many diseases such as the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Importantly various immune cells regulate iron metabolism to induce their various effector functions. Notably, as iron is so essential for cell division, one of the earliest tasks of invading pathogens is to capture host iron in the circulation to aid their own growth and expansion. Therefore, restricting free iron is a first line of defense against invading pathogens.