Abstract
Brain iron accumulates in several neurodegenerative diseases and can cause oxidative damage, but mechanisms of brain iron homeostasis are incompletely understood. Patients with mutations in the cellular iron-exporting ferroxidase ceruloplasmin (Cp) have brain iron accumulation causing neurodegeneration. Here, we assessed the brains of mice with combined mutation of Cp and its homolog hephaestin. Compared to single mutants, brain iron accumulation was accelerated in double mutants in the cerebellum, substantia nigra, and hippocampus. Iron accumulated within glia, while neurons were iron deficient. There was loss of both neurons and glia. Mice developed ataxia and tremor, and most died by 9 months. Treatment with the oral iron chelator deferiprone diminished brain iron levels, protected against neuron loss, and extended lifespan. Ferroxidases play important, partially overlapping roles in brain iron homeostasis by facilitating iron export from glia, making iron available to neurons.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 958-974 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Journal of Neurochemistry |
Volume | 135 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was funded by The Paul and Evanina Bell Mackall Foundation Trust, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, National Institutes of Health, (Grant/Award Number: ''NIH EY015240''). The Dunaief lab receives research funding from ApoPharma, Inc., and JLD is co-inventor on a patent pending for use of deferiprone for age-related macular degeneration. Michael Spino, John Connelly, and Jolanta Wodzinska are employees of ApoPharma. All experiments were conducted in compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines.
Keywords
- ceruloplasmin/Hephaestin
- deferiprone
- glia
- iron
- neurodegeneration
- oxidative stress