The presence of Mt-FTL subunits in Mt-FTL/Wt-FTL heteropolymers also caused iron loading-induced aggregation relative to Wt-FTL homopolymers, with the precipitate containing Mt- and Wt-FTL polypeptides again paralleling HF.
Nucleotide insertions in the last exon of the ferritin light chain cause a neurodegenerative disease known as Neuroferritinopathy, characterized by iron deposition in the brain, particularly in the cerebellum, basal ganglia and motor cortex.
A ferritin light-chain variant related to neuroferritinopathy, in which alanine 96 is replaced with threonine (A96T), was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized.