Description
Transferrins are iron-binding blood plasma glycoproteins that control the level of free iron in biological fluids. In humans, it is encoded by the TF gene. In humans, transferrin consists of a polypeptide chain containing 679 amino acids. The protein is composed of alpha helices and beta sheets to form two domains. The N- and C- terminal sequences are represented by globular lobes and between the two lobes is an iron-binding site. Transferrin is a glycoprotein that binds iron very tightly but reversibly. Although iron bound to transferrin is less than 0.1% (4 mg) of the total body iron, it is the most important iron pool, with the highest rate of turnover (25 mg/24 h). Transferrin has a molecular weight of around 80 kDa and contains 2 specific high-affinity Fe(III) binding sites. The affinity of transferrin for Fe(III) is extremely high but decreases progressively with decreasing pH below neutrality