Stimulation of non-transferrin iron uptake by iron deprivation in K562 cells.

We tested the effect of iron deprivation on the uptake of iron from ferric citrate by human erythroleukemia K562 cells. The iron uptake after 24-h preincubation in defined iron-free medium was approximately 2-3x higher than after the preincubation in control transferrin-containing medium. The preincubation of K562 cells in iron-free medium together with the inhibitor of protein synthesis cycloheximide completely abrogated the stimulation of the iron uptake.

Hereditary hemochromatosis: detection of C282Y and H63D mutations in HFE gene by means of guthrie cards in population of Czech Republic.

The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of HFE gene mutations in the population of the Czech Republic. Altogether, 257 randomly selected newborn screening cards (Guthrie cards) were analyzed for the C282Y and H63D mutations within the HFE gene. Complete results were obtained from 254 cards for the C282Y mutation and 257 cards for the H63D mutation.