Evaluating iron flux in the brain

Abstract

Regulated efflux of iron from cells is a fundamental event in controlling the intracellular pool of labile iron. Imbalance to this pool can be detrimental to the cell either through impairment to metabolic pathways when deficient or production of hydroxyl radicals when in excess. While ferroportin is currently the only known iron export pore protein in all cell types of the brain, its functional location is established through protein complexes that vary between cell types. Here, we describe selected experimental techniques that can evaluate iron flux as well as the downstream changes to the labile intracellular pool of iron within the whole brain or select cell types. Our aim is to provide ..