Iron
Iron is a chemical element and biologically relevant metal ion rather than a gene; the supplied Wikidata identifier, Q677, corresponds to iron.
Iron is a chemical element and biologically relevant metal ion rather than a gene; the supplied Wikidata identifier, Q677, corresponds to iron. In biomedical research, iron is examined through its redox-active forms, particularly ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) and ferric iron (Fe³⁺), its participation in iron homeostasis, and its effects on oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, inflammation, and cancer biology. The provided literature emphasizes a therapeutic duality: iron deprivation or chelation is investigated in cancer and iron-overload disorders, whereas controlled iron delivery or iron-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation is explored for antibacterial treatment and ferroptosis-based cancer therapy.
Across the cited studies, iron-related mechanisms include peroxidase-like ROS production, disruption of bacterial respiration, ferroptosis-associated oxidative injury involving lipid peroxidation and Glutathione Peroxidase 4 (GPX4), and interactions with amyloid-β, copper, and zinc in Alzheimer’s disease models. These publications extend the dominant cluster of iron and metabolic disease while also advancing the related themes of ROS nanotherapies and metal-driven Alzheimer’s disease research.
Rebuilt from PubMed 18 Sept 2026 · no new papers today
Where the papers sit
15 papers study iron directly. The themes below are drawn from those 15. 1 new direction follows.
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Iron and Oxidative Stress : Iron-linked oxidative stress recurs across infection, sepsis, cardiac disease, cancer and tissue injury, with studies spanning iron deprivation, antimicrobial materials and prognostic biomarkers. Inflammation and redox damage are recurring endpoints. 7 papers · 46.7%
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Iron-Targeted Disease Therapy : Iron chelation and iron delivery are being engineered for contrasting goals: suppressing ferroptosis and iron overload while inducing ferroptosis in tumors. Deferoxamine, lipid nanoparticles, RNAi, cystine depletion and adipocyte oxylipins recur as therapeutic tools. 6 papers · 40%
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Metal-Linked Alzheimer's Amyloid : Metal ions are treated as drivers and therapeutic targets in Alzheimer’s amyloid pathology: models examine chelation and aggregation control, while xanthene derivatives pursue neuroprotection. Amyloid-β aggregate structure and morphology remain key readouts. 2 papers · 13.3%
Enterobactin is presented as a microbial iron shuttle that can alter host mitochondrial function and colitis
The murine colitis model treated with bacterial enterobactin and its metabolites assumes enterobactin primarily removes iron from the host; instead, the study examines evidence that enterobactin may deliver iron to host mitochondria and links enterobactin, lipocalin-2, and related metabolites to mitochondrial respiration and colitis outcomes. This gives iron a host–microbe metabolic-signaling role distinct from the set’s other uses of iron as a toxic overload, ferroptosis driver, therapeutic target, or biomarker 42026762Apr.
Recent Findings on iron
Iron-Linked Oxidative Stress: Iron dyshomeostasis accompanies oxidative stress, inflammation, and tissue injury in acute coronary syndrome, spinal cord injury, urosepsis, fungal keratitis, and early-life brain iron overload 42736313Sep42742870Sep42055477Apr42636800Aug42663810Aug. In acute coronary syndrome, higher ferritin predicted 28-day mortality, whereas higher transferrin and total iron-binding capacity were protective; serum iron showed no significant association 42736313Sep. Fungal keratitis and early-life brain iron overload linked excess iron with ferroptosis, oxidative reactions, inflammation, cognitive dysfunction, or blood-brain barrier disruption 42636800Aug42663810Aug. Spinal cord injury instead showed lower plasma iron, copper, zinc, and selenium alongside increased oxidative, nitrosative, and inflammatory markers 42742870Sep. Iron sequestration, iron deprivation, and suppression of host ferroptosis are advancing as interventions, while iron-doped carbon dots deliberately generate localized reactive oxygen species for antibacterial activity 42711711Sep42636800Aug42715070Sep.
Ferroptosis-Based Cancer Therapy: Cancer models increasingly use iron-dependent lipid peroxidation to suppress tumor growth, although interventions either deplete iron or regenerate ferrous iron 42721252Sep42528415Jul. Adipocyte-derived 9S-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid induced ferroptosis in breast cancer, while obesity reduced this signal and tumor ferroptosis 42721252Sep. The ALSF lipid nanoparticle combined Fe3+ recycling with Glutathione Peroxidase 4 siRNA, increasing Fe2+, reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, and ferroptosis in ocular cancer xenografts 42528415Jul. Oral iron-cystine spherulites with intermittent fasting instead induced disulfidptosis through glucose restriction and disulfide stress 42714527Sep. Deferoxamine-based nanomedicines removed excess iron, suppressed ferroptosis and lipid peroxidation after intracerebral hemorrhage, and reduced spinal iron-linked bone cancer pain through the RIG-I/CCL5 pathway 42009223Apr41999973Apr.
Metal-Driven Amyloid Aggregation: Copper, zinc, and iron serve as catalytic contributors to amyloid-β aggregation in a mathematical model of Alzheimer’s disease 42624961Aug. Simulations found that metal chelation and direct amyloid-β aggregation inhibition could act independently or synergistically, while reproducing metal-dependent aggregate morphology heterogeneity 42624961Aug. Novel xanthene derivatives countered iron(III)- and amyloid-β-induced cytotoxicity, activated P-glycoprotein in selected compounds, and showed potential for blood-brain barrier penetration 42380051Jun.
Written from 15 PubMed abstracts, each one cited by PMID above. Published: 2026-09-11. Last written: 2026-09-17 by GPT. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.