Ferritin is a class of naturally occurring iron storage proteins, which is distributed widely in animal, plant, and bacteria. It usually consists of 24 subunits that form a hollow protein shell with high symmetry. One holoferritin molecule can store up to 4500 iron atom within its inner cavity, and it becomes apoferritin upon removal of iron from the cavity. Recently, scientists have subverted these nature functions and used reversibly self-assembled property of apoferritin cage controlled by pH for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactive nutrients or anticancer drug. In all these cases, the ferritin cages shield their cargo from the influence of external conditions and provide a controlled microenvironment. More importantly, upon encapsulation, ferritin shell greatly improved the water solubility, thermal stability, photostability, and cellular uptake activity of these small bioactive compounds. This review aims to highlight recent advances in applications of ferritin cage as a novel vehicle in the field of food science and nutrition. Future outlooks are highlighted with the aim to suggest a research line to follow for further studies.

铁蛋白是一类天然存在的铁存储蛋白，广泛分布于动物，植物和细菌中。它通常由24个亚基组成，这些亚基形成具有高度对称性的中空蛋白质壳。一个全铁蛋白分子可以在其内腔中存储多达4500个铁原子，一旦从腔中去除铁，它就会变成脱铁铁蛋白。最近，科学家颠覆了这些自然功能，并利用可逆pH的载铁蛋白笼子的可逆自组装特性来封装和输送生物活性营养素或抗癌药物。在所有这些情况下，铁蛋白笼都可以保护其货物免受外界条件的影响，并提供可控的微环境。更重要的是，包封后，铁蛋白壳大大改善了水溶性，热稳定性，光稳定性，和这些小生物活性化合物的细胞摄取活性。这篇综述旨在重点介绍在食品科学和营养领域中将铁蛋白笼用作新型载体的最新进展。强调了未来的前景，目的是提出一条可进一步研究的研究路线。