apoferritin

[ap-oh-fer-i-tin]

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a homogeneous protein, found especially in the intestinal mucosa and the liver, that interacts with a ferric hydroxide-ferric phosphate complex to form ferritin.

Word History and Origins

Origin of apoferritin¹

apo- + ferritin

Example Sentences

One was the iron-storing protein apoferritin, which has become a benchmark for cryo-EM resolution records.

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In 2020, it crossed the threshold of atomic resolution as researchers using cryo-EM microscopes equipped with improved electron detectors and software mapped the structure of apoferritin, an iron-binding protein.

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Researchers in Japan had previously shown they could narrow the resolution to 1.54 angstroms—not quite reaching the point where they could distinguish individual atoms—in a gut protein called apoferritin, which binds and stores iron.

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A Cryo-EM map of the protein apoferritin.Credit:

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An atomic-resolution map of GABAA, which isn’t as stable as apoferritin, would be a challenge, says Scheres.

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