The Bioelectric and Biomagnetic Properties of Ferritin

Abstract

There is a large body of research on the iron storage protein ferritin, which mostly concerns how it stores and releases iron and interacts with the labile iron pool of a cell. A smaller amount of research concerns the unusual physical properties of ferritin, such as how it chemically interacts with compounds that are found in cells, how it can be used as a template for nanoparticles, how it can be loaded with chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer, and how it can be used as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging and its bulk electric and magnetic properties. Only recently have the electrical and magnetic properties of individual particles of ferritin been studied, and those are very different from the bulk properties. This article presents an interdisciplinary review of literature from the chemical, solid state, and biological sciences and proposes hypotheses regarding how the electrical and magnetic properties of individual particles of ferritin may interact with cells and cellular systems. This evidence indicates that those properties are a factor in serious diseases and disorders that could be prevented, treated, or possibly cured if those properties were better understood.