Transport of iron from within intestinal enterocytes to the circulation requires that it be oxidized from the ferrous to the ferric form. This oxidation is catalyzed by which of the following proteins?

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Hephaestin is a copper-containing ferroxidase that oxidizes ferrous iron to ferric iron, which is then transported out of the enterocyte by ferroportin.  Iron is transported across the basolateral membrane of intestinal enterocytes into the circulation, through the action of the transport protein ferroportin (also called IREG1 = iron-regulated gene 1). Associated with ferroportin is the enzyme hephaestin (a copper-containing ferroxidase with homology to ceruloplasmin) which oxidizes the ferrous form back to the ferric form. Once in the circulation, ferric form of iron is bound to transferrin and passes through the portal circulation of the liver

Transport of Iron from Within Intestinal Enterocytes to the Circulation