Definition of "transferrin" [transferrin]

• A beta globulin in blood serum that combines with and transports iron. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "At the low endosomal pH, the affinity between iron and transferrin is weakened dramatically."
• "The other gauges the saturation rate of a protein called transferrin, which binds to iron and shuttles it through the body."
• "In this animal study, injections of the protein, known as transferrin, also protected against potentially fatal iron overload in mice with thalassemia, a type of inherited anemia that affects millions of people worldwide."