SEMINAR: Iron and its influence on hepatic lipids

The Seminar: Obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are major health problems in Australia. All are characterised by an initial accumulation of lipids which, along with the contribution of confounding factors, such as iron, can lead to organ dysfunction and death. In the presence of existing fat deposits, iron has been linked to progression of NAFLD, via the production of free radicals. Recently we have shown that iron may be involved in the initial lipid accumulation by stimulating production of cholesterol in the liver. Importantly, this cholesterol may accumulate in the mitochondria; mitochondrial cholesterol accumulation has been associated with NAFLD. These data are consistent with an increase in total hepatic lipid burden and a role for iron in the early stages of fatty liver disease

The Speaker: Ross completed his PhD in Physiology at UWA in 1997 studying non-transferrin bound iron uptake in the liver. He retained his interest in metal metabolism following his move to London in 1998, working at the University of London where he studied the synthesis of vitamin B12 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the pathogen which causes many lung infections in cyctic fibrosis patients. In 2004, he returned to Western Australia to work in the School of Medicine & Pharmacology, UWA, continuing his work on iron in the liver, focussing on the role of transferrin receptor 2 in iron uptake and how mutations in this protein cause a rare form of the iron-loading disorder, haemochromatosis. This work led to identification of a role for iron in the biosynthesis of cholesterol, implicating iron as a factor in liver disease and obesity. In 2011, he moved to Curtin University where he is continuing his research into liver iron and its effects on other metabolic processes.