The 24p3 of mouse is a member of lipocalin family and it has been implicated in iron transport and apoptosis due to interleukin-3(IL-3) deprivation. Devireddy and colleagues cloned the receptor of 24p3 and further confirmed that the pathway of 24p3-24p3R is a new iron transport approach in Dec 2005. A link between iron internalization mediated by 24p3R and regulation of apoptosis was suggested.