Figure 2.

Ferritin, an inflammatory player, keeping iron at the core of pathogen–host interactions. The recognition of microbial components triggers a variety of host defense mechanisms. An important part of host defense aims at pathogen iron deprivation, achieved by the activation of iron re-distribution pathways by inflammatory mediators. The inflammatory response may, however, lead to tissue damage due to oxidative stress. Ferritin plays crucial roles in this interaction: it can decrease iron availability by intracellular sequestration, tame the inflammatory response and protect host cells from oxidative damage. Part of this scheme was elaborated with elements obtained from Servier Medical Art.