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. 1973 Dec;70(12 Pt 1-2):3847–3851. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.12.3847

The Ultrastructure of Ferritin Macromolecules. The Lattice Structure of the Core Crystallites*

William H Massover 1, John M Cowley 1
PMCID: PMC427342  PMID: 4521210

Abstract

The ultrastructure of the crystalline ferric mineral that forms the central core of ferritin macro-molecules has been examined by means of ultrahigh resolution electron microscopy at 100 kV. Very high magnification dark-field images reveal the presence of either a single large crystal or several smaller crystallites within many of the cores. When the highly crystalline core contents are suitably oriented to transmit their Bragg reflections through the objective aperture, regular fringes separated by 2-9.5 Å have been visualized. The geometrical relations of lattice fringes and of periodically organized point details in these individual crystallites largely confirm the structural model proposed by Towe and Bradley (1967). The highly variable occupancy of ferric ions in certain planes of the lattice suggests that 20-33% of the iron content of fully saturated ferritin should undergo more rapid physiological release than does the remainder, and that iron uptake will have kinetics that depend upon more than only the maximal rate of crystallization.

Keywords: ultrahigh resolution electron microscopy, dark-field imaging, ferric crystallites, iron

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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