Figure 5

Exogenous hepcidin does not alter iron transport in NHBE cells or alveolar macrophages. Differentiated NHBE cells (A) or alveolar macrophages (B) were loaded with ⁵⁷Fe for 4 hours, followed by treatment with exogenous hepcidin peptide (1 μM) for an additional 20 hours. Cells were washed and scraped into 3 N HCl/10% trichloroacetic acid. After hydrolysis at 70°C for 24 hours, ⁵⁷Fe was quantified. The quantity of exogenous ⁵⁷Fe was compared to the naturally occurring ⁵⁶Fe and showed no change in either the airway epithelial cells or alveolar macrophages treated with exogenous hepcidin peptide.