Abstract: Iron is one of the important trace elements in maintaining the body. It not only participates in basic metabolic pathways such as oxygen transport, electron transfer and energy metabolism, but also plays a role in gene expression regulation, cell proliferation and differentiation, apoptosis and immune defense. Many diseases can lead to abnormal iron metabolism, and meanwhile, abnormal iron metabolism can also affect the occurrence and development of diseases. Therefore, it is very important to understand the regulation mechanism of cellular iron metabolism in the body for disease prevention and control. In this paper, the functions of iron metabolism-related proteins and their biological processes were reviewed, and the molecular regulatory pathways of iron metabolism were also described in detail, in order to provide new ideas for disease prevention and control, and vaccine development.