Question:easy
Iron is taken up from the gut lumen into enterocytes through which transporter?
Iron is taken up from the gut lumen into enterocytes through which transporter?
Show Hint
Apical entry uses a divalent metal transporter; the basolateral exporter is the trap.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- DMT1
- DMT2
- Ferroportin 1
- GLUT1
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Track the path of iron through a duodenal cell. It must first be carried in across the luminal surface, then later be sent out across the blood-facing surface, and two different proteins handle these two directions.
Step 2: The entry step at the apical brush border uses the Divalent Metal Transporter 1, $DMT1$, which pulls ferrous iron into the enterocyte and can also handle zinc, copper, cobalt and manganese.
Step 3: The exit step at the basolateral membrane is the job of ferroportin 1, so ferroportin is about export, not uptake, and is the classic trap option here.
Step 4: The remaining choices fail outright: there is no meaningful $DMT2$ iron transporter, and $GLUT1$ is a glucose carrier. Hence iron entry into the enterocyte is via $DMT1$.
\[\boxed{\text{DMT1}}\]
Step 2: The entry step at the apical brush border uses the Divalent Metal Transporter 1, $DMT1$, which pulls ferrous iron into the enterocyte and can also handle zinc, copper, cobalt and manganese.
Step 3: The exit step at the basolateral membrane is the job of ferroportin 1, so ferroportin is about export, not uptake, and is the classic trap option here.
Step 4: The remaining choices fail outright: there is no meaningful $DMT2$ iron transporter, and $GLUT1$ is a glucose carrier. Hence iron entry into the enterocyte is via $DMT1$.
\[\boxed{\text{DMT1}}\]
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