Integrating iron and oxygen/antioxidant signals via a combinatorial array of DNA – (antioxidant response elements) and mRNA (iron responsive elements) sequences

Fe (cellular iron), O (dioxygen, antioxidant inducers, hydrogen peroxide), and P (protein phosphorylation) signals combine to regulate DNA activity (transcription/mRNA synthesis) for antioxidant/Phase II response proteins (e.g., ferritin H, ferritin L, thioredoxin reductase I, NAD(P)H quinone oxido-reductase, heme oxygenase1 and β-globin) and mRNA activity for proteins of iron transport, storage or oxygen metabolism (e.g., ferritin H, ferritin L, transferrin receptor1, ferroportin, mt-aconitase-TCA cycle and aminolevulinate synthase – heme biosynthesis). Ferritin regulation links the two groups of genetic controls via DNA (ARE-antioxidant response element) and mRNA (IRE-iron responsive element) structures. More is known about the IRE-mRNA and protein repressors, IRPs (iron regulatory proteins/aconitase homologues), than the DNA-ARE and protein repressors, e.g., Bach1. Iron responsive elements are very similar (65–80% sequence identity), but each mRNA has sufficient IRE specificity (>90% phylogenetic sequence conservation), that IRP binding and signal responses vary quantitatively. The structural specificity of each IRE-RNA provides an opportunity for finding small molecule regulators in vitro, and possibly in vivo. The potential of manipulating mRNA function with small molecules targeted to specific RNA regulatory structures, e.g., ferritin mRNA in iron overload, or viral mRNA control structures for replication, is high.