▁is ▁to ▁se quest er ▁free ▁iron , ▁and ▁in ▁doing ▁so ▁remove ▁essential ▁substr ate ▁required ▁for ▁b acter ial ▁growth . ▁Ant ib acter ial ▁action ▁of ▁la ct o fer rin ▁ ▁is ▁also ▁explained ▁by ▁the ▁presence ▁of ▁specific ▁re cept ors ▁on ▁the ▁cell ▁surface ▁of ▁micro organ isms . ▁L act o fer rin ▁bind s ▁to ▁li pop ol ys ac char ide ▁of ▁b acter ial ▁walls , ▁and ▁the ▁ox id ized ▁iron ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁la ct o fer rin ▁ox id izes ▁b acter ia ▁via ▁formation ▁of ▁per ox ides . ▁This ▁affect s ▁the ▁memb rane ▁per me ability ▁and ▁results ▁in ▁the ▁cell ▁break down ▁( ly s is ). ▁ ▁Although ▁la ct o fer rin ▁also ▁has ▁other ▁ant ib acter ial ▁mechan isms ▁not ▁related ▁to ▁iron , ▁such ▁as ▁stim ulation ▁of ▁ph ag oc yt osis , ▁the ▁interaction ▁with ▁the ▁outer ▁b acter ial ▁memb rane ▁described ▁above ▁is ▁the ▁most ▁dominant ▁and ▁most ▁studied . ▁L act o fer rin ▁not ▁only ▁dis rupt s ▁the ▁memb rane , ▁but ▁even ▁pen etr ates ▁into ▁the ▁cell . ▁Its ▁binding ▁to ▁the ▁b acter ia ▁wall ▁is ▁associated ▁with ▁the ▁specific ▁pe pt ide ▁la ct o fer ric in , ▁which ▁is ▁located ▁at ▁the ▁N - lo be ▁of ▁la ct o fer rin ▁and ▁is ▁produced ▁by ▁in ▁vit ro ▁cle av age ▁of ▁la ct o fer rin