Chemical and Mössbauer spectroscopic evidence that iron-containing concanavalin A is a ferritin.

We report here the preparation of iron-containing concanavalin A. It has a protein-to-iron ratio of 2.0, and the iron compound it contains is particulate with an average diameter of 85 A. Iron-containing concanavalin A interacts reversibly with dextran and with methyl alpha-D-glucoside. The molecular basis of these findings is discussed and a possible mechanism suggested where one of the molecular forms of concanavalin A has the structure of an apoferritin into which iron is deposited in the form of ferrihydrite.