Ferroportin (膜铁转运蛋白)

Ferroportin is a membrane protein belonging to the major facilitator superfamily of transporters. Ferroportin emerges as a critical transporter in terms of iron acquisition and transfer of iron between cell types, as it is the only known transporter that exports elemental iron from cells. Ferroportin is essential to distribute iron between tissues and for iron absorption into the organism. It is inferred that the substrate for ferroportin is Fe(II), based on the observation that iron transport requires an extracellular ferroxidase activity. This ferroxidase is provided by the multicopper oxidases ceruloplasmin (Cp) and/or hephaestin. Several ferroportin mutations lead to the so-called ferroportin disease or type 4 hemochromatosis, characterized by two distinct iron accumulation phenotypes depending on whether the mutation affects the activity of the protein or its degradation pathway.