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In molecular biology, the iron response element or iron-responsive element is a short conserved stem-loop which is bound by iron response proteins. The IRE is found in UTRs of various mRNAs whose products are involved in iron metabolism. For example, the mRNA of ferritin contains one IRE in its 5' UTR. When iron concentration is low, IRPs bind the IRE in the ferritin mRNA and cause reduced translation rates. In contrast, binding to multiple IREs in the 3' UTR of the transferrin receptor leads to increased mRNA stability.
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