Regulation of iron metabolism and its involvement in diseases

Iron is an essential nutrient virtually almost all organisms including human, but at the same time, it is toxic because its high reactivity to molecular oxygen generates free radicals. Therefore, iron metabolism is tightly regulated. Recently, knowledge of roles that iron plays in our body as well as regulatory mechanism of iron metabolism in human body has been drastically expanded. Here I describe recent advance in our understanding on the regulation of iron metabolism and discuss its relationship to various diseases.