Iron chelation, siderophores

In the rhizosphere, microorganisms utilize either organic acids or phytosiderophores to transport iron or produce their own low-molecular-weight metal chelators, called siderophores. There are a wide variety of siderophores in nature and some of them have now been identified and chemically purified (54). Pre.sently, three general mechanisms are recognized for utilization of these compounds by microorganisms. These include a shuttle mechanism in which chelators deliver iron to a reductase on the cell surface, direct uptake of metallated siderophores with destructive hydrolysis of the chelator inside the cell, and direct uptake followed by reductive removal of iron and resecretion of the chelator (for reviews, see Refs. 29 and 54). 

As mentioned previously, siderophores must selectively bind iron tightly in order to solubilize the metal ion and prevent hydrolysis, as well as effectively compete with other chelators in the system. The following discussion will address in more detail the effect of siderophore structure on the thermodynamics of iron binding, as well as different methods for measuring and comparing iron-siderophore complex stability. The redox potentials of the ferri-siderophore complexes will also be addressed, as ferri-siderophore reduction may be important in the iron uptake process in biological systems. 

Another factor that can possibly affect the redox potential in biological systems is the presence of secondary chelating agents that can participate in coupled equilibria (3). When other chelators are present, coupled equilibria involving iron-siderophore redox occur and a secondary ligand will cause the siderophore complex effective redox potential to shift. The decrease in stability of the iron-siderophore complex upon reduction results in a more facile release of the iron. Upon release, the iron(II) is available for complexation by the secondary ligand, which results in a corresponding shift in the redox equilibrium toward production of iron(II). In cases where iron(II) is stabilized by the secondary chelators, there is a shift in the redox potential to more positive values, as shown in Eqs. (42)—(45). 

Drechsel H, Winkelmann G (1997) Iron Chelation and Siderophores. In Winkelmann G, Carrano CJ (eds) Transition Metals in Microbial Metabolism. Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam, p 1... 

Due to their capacity to specifically chelate ferric iron, siderophores have been used for chelation therapy to treat iron overload diseases . ... 

Microbes acquire iron by utilizing very specific, low molecular weight iron chelators called siderophores. The resistance of bacteria to previously effective antibiotics can be circumvented in part by covalent coupling of antibiotics to siderophores. Some synthetic siderophores have been found to possess significant antibacterial activity themselves. They have also been found to have considerable potential as nontoxic, organ selective MRI contrast agents (27). 

The siderophore enterobactin (enterochelin) (64) is a cyclic lactone of three N-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl) L-serine moieties produced by E. coli under iron stress. Enterobactin (64) was first isolated from iron-limited cultures of Salmonella typhimur-ium [83], E. coli [84], and Aerobacter aerogenes [84]. Structural analysis has confirmed that 64 chelates iron as a hexadentate ligand via the two hydroxyl groups on each catechol moiety (see Fig. 13) [85]. Of all the siderophores characterized to date, 64 has been shown to have the highest affinity for ferric iron, with a stability constant of 1052 M 1 [86, 87], which is remarkable, considering the affinity of EDTA for iron is 27 orders of magnitude lower. In mammals, serum albumin [88] and siderocalin [89, 90] bind the hydrophobic 64 which impedes siderophore-mediated transfer of iron to bacteria. Consequently, bacteria such as E. coli and... 

In times of iron deficiency, many bacteria and fungi release low molecular weight chelators called siderophores (see Iron Transport Siderophores). These molecules bind ferric iron tightly and the ferric-siderophore complexes are then transported into the cell by a system of uptake proteins. The first stage in the uptake process involves an outer membrane receptor specific to each siderophore. One of the best characterized of these receptors is FhuA, the ferrichrome uptake receptor of E. coli, and we will describe this in detail. However, though other ferric-siderophore complexes are taken up by cells, and their iron released by systems similar to those of ferrichrome, their mechanisms may vary from those of ferrichrome in some respects. FepA and FecA" are two of the outer membrane ferric-siderophore receptors that have recently been structurally characterized. 

A. L. Crumbliss, Aqueous Solution Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies of Iron Siderophore and Model Siderophore Complexes, in Handbook of Microbial Iron Chelates , ed. G. Winkehnann, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1991, p. 177. 

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