Frost Joe N, Drakesmith Hal
Immunology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Nat Rev Immunol. 2025 Jun 16. doi: 10.1038/s41577-025-01193-y.
Iron is a cofactor for hundreds of enzymes and biochemical processes that support cellular metabolism across the kingdoms of life. Because of this, the host and pathogen compete for iron as a vital resource. Moreover, research has shown that iron acquisition and iron trafficking have substantial effects on the immune system. This is especially important because iron-related disorders - both deficiency and overload - are common worldwide. In this Review, we describe how immune cells acquire and use iron, which branches of the immune system are most affected by iron and how changes in iron availability can affect infectious diseases, autoinflammatory disorders and antitumour immunity. We also discuss key unanswered questions and potential therapeutic opportunities to manipulate immunity by controlling iron trafficking.
铁是数百种酶和生化过程的辅助因子，这些酶和生化过程支持着生命各王国中的细胞代谢。正因如此，宿主和病原体将铁作为一种至关重要的资源进行争夺。此外，研究表明铁的获取和运输对免疫系统有重大影响。这一点尤为重要，因为与铁相关的疾病——无论是缺乏还是过载——在全球都很常见。在本综述中，我们描述了免疫细胞如何获取和利用铁，免疫系统的哪些分支受铁的影响最大，以及铁可用性的变化如何影响传染病、自身炎症性疾病和抗肿瘤免疫。我们还讨论了关键的未解决问题以及通过控制铁运输来操纵免疫的潜在治疗机会。
