Characterization of the Role of Transferrin Receptor 1 in the Intestinal Epithelium, Pancreas, and Skin

The study investigated the role of Transferrin receptor 1 (Tfr1) in the intestinal epithelium, pancreas, and skin using conditional knockout mouse models. Deletion of Tfr1 in the intestinal epithelium led to disrupted homeostasis, loss of proliferation, and early neonatal lethality, suggesting a novel role for Tfr1 beyond iron assimilation. In the pancreas, Tfr1 deletion caused juvenile death due to disrupted homeostasis in endocrine and exocrine tissues, with symptoms of pancreatitis and diabetes, but no diabetic phenotype was observed when Tfr1 was deleted specifically in β-cells. In the skin, Tfr1 deletion resulted in neonatal lethality with abnormal hair follicle morphology and reduced dermal adipocytes. These findings highlighted the pleiotropic effects of Tfr1 loss and its non-canonical functions in different tissues.