Table 1 Mathematical model parameters

General

Fe _pack

atom packages^-1

Number of atoms in an iron package (Arbitrary)

Fn _max

Atom

Maximum iron storage capacity in a ferritin protein cage [43]

$F{n}_{max}^{eff}$

Atom

Maximum measured iron storage capacity for a ferritin

N

packages

Maximum number of iron atoms packages that a ferritin protein cage can store Fn _max /Fe _pack

Kinetic constants

k _aso

pmol-packages^-1 hr^-1 cell^-1

Association constant [15]

k _dis

hr^-1

Dissociation constant, calculated from k _App [46]

k _cat

hr^-1

Catalytic constant [46]

k _d

hr^-1

Proteolytic degradation constant [26]

${\tilde{k}}_{loss}$

hr^-1

Iron release constant: base value (see Figure 8 and text)

Initial conditions

Fn _total

pmol-ferritin cell^-1

Total ferritin in a cell ∀t [15]

Fe

pmol-packages cell^-1

Initial intracellular iron concentration t = 0 [15]

Fn _i

pmol-ferritin cell^-1

∀i ≠ 0

Fn ₀

pmol-ferritin cell^-1

All ferritin protein cages are empty at t = 0

$C_{F{n}_{i}Fe}$

pmol-ferritin cell^-1

There is no intermediary complex at t = 0