Abstract
For further understanding of the clinical and biological significance of ferritins, intracellular ferritin levels of several kinds of human-derived cells were investigated and some cell lines were analyzed for their ferritin synthesis by radioisotope labeling techniques. Results are as follows : 1) Leukemic cells of acute lymphocytic leukemia showed lower cellular ferritin levels than normal peripheral lymphocytes. 2) Both erythroleukemia cell line (K-562) and monocytic leukemia cell line (THP-1) showed high intracellular ferritin levels, and ferritin was also detected in their tissue culture medium. Other cell lines which showed low ferritin level did not show any ferritin in their culture medium. 3) The level of intracellularly synthesized ferritin was gradually increased in each examined cell line. 4) Release of synthesized ferritin into culture medium was proved only in the high intracellular ferritin group.
