Applications and Future Directions in Siderophore Research

Iron chelators can also be used to selectively bind iron in areas where oxidative stress is observed, thereby preventing the iron from taking part in Fenton reactions without interfering with normal iron homeostasis. Charkoudian et al. have developed boronic acid and boronic ester masked prochelators, which do not bind metals unless exposed to hydrogen peroxide (237,238). The binding of these chelators to iron(III) prevents redox cycling. Similar studies of these systems have been performed by a separate group (239,240). 

Pathogenic bacteria often make use of siderophores to obtain iron from their host organisms, and consequently the ironbinding capacity of the siderophore is closely related to the bacterial virulence. Enterobactin (1) is the natural siderophore 

As research continues into the field of siderophore production and iron uptake, the knowledge gained will be invaluable to the development of medical treatments for bacterial infection, 

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