TFR2 hemochromatosis (OMIM #604250) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by elevated serum iron measures, parenchymal iron deposition, and complications of iron overload. In some kinships, severe iron overload occurs in children or young adults. In individual cases, the TFR2 hemochromatosis phenotype may resemble that of HFE hemochromatosis or HJVhemochromatosis (Chapter 8).

History

In 1999, Kawabata and colleagues cloned and sequenced a human gene homologous to the TFR gene that encodes classical transferrin receptor (TFR1). They named the newly discovered gene TFR2 (OMIM *604720), and mapped it to chromosome 7q22. Two transcripts (alpha and beta) are expressed from this gene; the alpha transcript is expressed predominantly in the liver. TFR2-alpha is a second transferrin receptor that mediates cellular iron transport in vitro. In normal subjects, most iron uptake by the liver is transferrin mediated. Expression of TFR1 in hepatocytes, as in other non-reticuloendothelial cell types, is down-regulated in response to increased intracellular iron. Consequently, hepatocyte TFR1 is undetectable in patients with HFE hemochromatosis and hepatic iron loading. Nonetheless, hepatic iron loading in HFE hemochromatosis is progressive. Experiments in mice demonstrate that TFR2 makes only a minor contribution to the uptake of transferrin-bound iron by the liver, but rather TFR2 is thought to modulate the signaling pathway that controls hepcidin expression. In 2000, Camaschella and colleagues described persons with hemochromatosis phenotypes in two unrelated Sicilian families who had mutations in TFR2.

Clinical characteristics

The age of onset and severity of iron overload varies moderately in patients with TFR2 hemochromatosis.