New Hormone Helps Control Red Blood-Cell Supply

Researchers from UCLA have discovered a new hormone that helps regulate the iron supply necessary for red blood-cell production, known as erythroferrone.

As iron is essential to the regulation of red-cell production throughout the body, the mineral is a functional component of hemoglobin: a molecule that transports oxygen. 

"If there is too little iron, it causes anemia. If there is too much iron, the iron overload accumulates in the liver and organs, where it is toxic and causes damage," said senior author Dr. Tomas Ganz, a professor of medicine and pathology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, via a press release. "Modulating the activity of erythroferrone could be a viable strategy for the treatment of iron disorders of both overabundance and scarcity."

The hormone is composed of red blood-cell progenitors found in bone marrow that match iron supply with the demand of red blood-cell production. When red blood-cell production is stimulated, the hormone is significantly increased. 

"Our previous work anticipated that a regulator of hepcidin could be secreted by the bone marrow," said the study's first author, Leon Kautz, a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA. "In this research, we searched for new substances that were made in bone marrow that could fill that role."

Researchers discovered that a specific protein was secreted in the blood, that belonged to a family of proteins involved in cell-to-cell communication.

With further studies, researchers concluded that this discovery could help treat those with common congenital blood disorders, which can result in destruction of red blood cells. 

"Overproduction of erythroferrone may be a major cause of iron overload in untransfused patients and may contribute to iron overload in transfused patients," said study author Elizabeta Nemeth, a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-director of the UCLA Center for Iron Disorders, via the release. "The identification of erythroferrone can potentially allow researchers and drug developers to target the hormone for specific treatment to prevent iron overload in Cooley's anemia."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Nature Genetics.