| Erythroferrone | |
| Hgncid: | 26727 |
| Symbol: | ERFE |
| Entrezgene: | 151176 |
| Omim: | 615099 |
| Refseq: | NM_001291832.1 |
| Uniprot: | Q4G0M1 |
| Chromosome: | 2 |
| Arm: | q |
| Band: | 37.3 |
Erythroferrone is a protein hormone encoded in humans by the ERFE gene. Erythroferrone is produced by erythroblasts, inhibits the production of hepcidin in the liver, and so increases the amount of iron available for hemoglobin synthesis.[1] [2] Skeletal muscle secreted ERFE has been shown to maintain systemic metabolic homeostasis.[3]
It was identified in 2014 in mice where the transcript was found in bone marrow, encoded by the mouse Fam132b gene.[2] The homologous gene in humans is FAM132B and the sequence is conserved in other species. The protein is synthesized by erythroblasts and secreted.[2] This sequence had previously been found expressed in mouse skeletal muscle, called myonectin (CTRP15), and linked to lipid homeostasis.[4]
Seldin and his colleagues have written: "Myonectin is expressed and secreted predominantly by skeletal muscle.... (Our) results suggest that myonectin is a nutrient-responsive metabolic regulator secreted by skeletal muscle in response to changes in cellular energy state resulting from glucose or fatty acid fluxes. Many metabolically relevant secreted proteins (e.g. adiponectin, leptin, resistin, and RBP) and the signaling pathways they regulate in tissues are known to be dysregulated in the condition of obesity. The reduction in expression and circulating levels of myonectin in the obese state may represent yet another component of the complex metabolic circuitry dysregulated by excess caloric intake. Although exercise has long been known to have profound positive impacts on systemic insulin sensitivity and energy balance, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. That voluntary exercise dramatically increases the expression and circulating levels of myonectin to promote fatty acid uptake into cells may underlie one of the beneficial effects of physical exercise."[5]
Myonectin was shown in 2015 to be identical to erythroferrone, a hormone produced in erythroblasts that is involved in iron metabolism.