Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P02794 (ferritin)
 17,525 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neuronal antigens can be demonstrated histologically by numerous direct and indirect immunocytochemical techniques in which a specific antibody is identified by a marker compound such as fluorescein isothiocyanate, ferritin, or horseradish peroxidase. One of the more sensitive methods for the light and electron microscopic localizations of antigens in sections of tissue is the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) technique. The experimental procedures and the results obtained using this technique for the localization of the catecholamine synthesizing enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase, are described. The cellular and ultrastructural localization of the enzyme is demonstrated in perikarya, processes, and terminals of catecholaminergic neurons in rat brain. The immunocytochemical localization of tyrosine hydroxylase is compared to the localization of two peptides, substance P and [Met5]-enkephalin, in the A2 region of the medulla. These studies suggest that a synaptic interaction exists between the catecholaminergic neurons and neurons showing positive immunoreactivity for the peptides. The limitations of the PAP immunocytochemical technique are also discussed in relation to the immunocytochemical localization of tyrosine hydroxylase and other antigens.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical localization of neuronal antigens: tyrosine hydroxylase, substance P, [Met5]-enkephalin. 3 6

Although iron accumulates in the brain in a number of pathological conditions, including Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and neurosyphilis, studies of brain iron metabolism have been performed only rarely. Neuronal-enriched cultures were prepared from fetal mouse brain. After 18 days the cells were exposed to radiolabeled iron. Total iron uptake and incorporation into ferritin were rapid and linear over four hours. The addition of either methylamine or ammonium chloride, both known blockers of transferrin-iron release through their lysosomotropic properties, inhibited total iron uptake. Methylamine also inhibited the rate of ferritin-iron incorporation, most likely by interfering with transferrin-iron release. The data suggest that neuronal iron transport, much like that in other mammalian tissues, is transferrin mediated and that blockers of transferrin-iron release may be of value in conditions in which there is brain iron overload.
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PMID:Iron uptake by mammalian cortical neurons. 646 62

With use of iron histochemistry and immunohistochemistry, regional changes in the appearance of iron, ferritin, transferrin, glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive astrocytes, and activated microglia were examined from 1 to 24 weeks after transient forebrain ischemia (four-vessel occlusion model) in rat brain. Expression of the C3bi receptor and the major histocompatibility complex class II antigen was used to identify microglia. Neuronal death was confirmed by hematoxylin-eosin staining only in pyramidal cells of the hippocampal CA1 region, which is known as the area most vulnerable to ischemia. Perls' reaction with 3,3'-diaminobenzidine intensification revealed iron deposits in the CA1 region after week 4, which gradually increased and formed clusters by week 24. Iron also deposited in layers III-V of the parietal cortex after week 8 and gradually built up as granular deposits in the cytoplasm of pyramidal cells in frontocortical layer V. An increasing astroglial reaction and the appearance of ferritin-immunopositive microglia paralleled the iron accumulation in the hippocampal CA1 region, indicating that iron deposition was probably produced in the process of gliosis. Neither neuronal death nor atrophy was found in the cerebral cortex. Nevertheless, an astroglial and ferritin-immunopositive microglial reaction became evident at week 8 in the parietal cortex. On the other hand, the granular iron deposition in the pyramidal neurons of frontocortical layer V was not accompanied by any glial reaction in the chronic stage of ischemia. Three different types of iron deposition in the chronic phase after transient forebrain ischemia were shown in this study. In view of the neuronal damage caused by iron-catalyzed free radical formation, the late-onset iron deposition may be relevant to the pathogenesis of the chronic brain dysfunction seen at a late stage after cerebral ischemia.
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PMID:Regional differences in late-onset iron deposition, ferritin, transferrin, astrocyte proliferation, and microglial activation after transient forebrain ischemia in rat brain. 786 Jun 55

Although the cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, oxidative stress has been implicated in its pathogenesis. This theory postulates that normal metabolic processes in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system may lead to loss of neurons, and that iron-dependent membrane lipid peroxidation may play an important role in the neuronal death. Recent research concerning iron-dependent lipid peroxidation is presented. First, catechols (including dopa and dopamine) and iron form strong oxidizing complexes and induce lipid peroxidation (LPO) in phospholipid liposomes. Active oxygen species including superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen, do not participate in this LPO, which is inhibited by an excess of dopa (dopamine). Cultured neurons and the substantia nigra are vulnerable to LPO. Second, synthetic melanin prepared by the autooxidation of catechols promotes LPO in the presence of iron. The effects of scavenging agents indicate that this LPO is mediated by superoxide, but not by other oxygen free radicals. Neuronal cell cultures are destroyed by this LPO. Third, catechols and superoxide produced by microglia cause the release of iron from ferritin. Microglia stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate produce superoxide and cause the release of iron from ferritin. Catechols also induce mobilization of ferritin iron. The released iron (i.e. loosely-bound iron) is available to iron-dependent LPO. These data suggest that the biochemical and morphological characteristics of the substantia nigra, which are concomitant with its functional role, provoke iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. It is essential to elucidate how iron bound loosely to low molecules comes into contact with catechols, neuromelanin and superoxide. Drugs that chelate iron site-specifically or modulate the microglial function may bring about some favorable changes in the disease process.
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PMID:[Oxidative stress and the brain]. 943 Sep 79

Quantitative T2 magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used to examine gerbil brains 1, 3, 10, and 30 days after 5 min forebrain ischemia. T2 was increased in the dorsal-lateral striatum 1 and 3 days post-ischemia, and in the hippocampus 3 days post-ischemia. T2 was normal 10 days post-ischemia, and decreased in the hippocampus and dorsal-lateral striatum 30 days post-ischemia. Neuronal counts in the dorsal-lateral striatum and CA1 hippocampal region were uniformly decreased 30 days post-ischemia. The increase in T2 shortly after ischemia is attributed to brain edema localized to regions where neuronal injury developed. The late decrease in T2 may be due to decreased water in gliotic tissue, or to ferritin-positive microglia, following forebrain ischemia. Tissue atrophy at later times gave enlarged ventricles on MR images.
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PMID:Temporal profile of magnetic resonance imaging changes following forebrain ischemia in the gerbil. 986 38

Thiamine deficiency (TD) is a model of chronic impairment of oxidative metabolism and selective neuronal loss. TD leads to region-specific neuronal death and elevation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in macrophages/microglia in mouse brain. Identification of the initial site of neuronal death in the submedial thalamic nucleus allowed us to test the role of iNOS and oxidative stress in TD-induced neuronal death. The pattern of neuronal loss, which begins after 9 days of TD, overlapped with induction of the oxidative stress marker heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in microglia. Neuronal death and microglial HO-1 induction spread to engulf the whole thalamus after 11 days of TD. As in past studies, reactive iron and ferritin accumulated in microglia beginning on day 10. The lipid peroxidation product, 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) accumulated in the remaining thalamic neurons only after 11 days of TD. These responses were not likely mediated by iNOS because HO-1 induction and HNE accumulation were comparable in iNOS knockout mice and wild-type controls. These results show that region and cell specific oxidative stress is associated with selective neurodegeneration during TD. Thus, TD is a useful model to help elucidate neuron-microglial interaction in neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress.
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PMID:Oxidative stress is associated with region-specific neuronal death during thiamine deficiency. 1049 37

Frataxin deficiency in Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) causes cardiac, endocrine, and nervous system manifestations. Frataxin is a mitochondrial protein, and adequate amounts are essential for cellular iron homeostasis. The main histological lesion in the brain of FRDA patients is neuronal atrophy and a peculiar proliferation of synaptic terminals in the dentate nucleus termed grumose degeneration. This cerebellar nucleus may be especially susceptible to FRDA because it contains abundant iron. We examined total iron and selected iron-responsive proteins in the dentate nucleus of nine patients with FRDA and nine normal controls by biochemical and microscopic techniques. Total iron (1.53 +/- 0.53 mumol/g wet weight) and ferritin (206.9 +/- 46.6 mug/g wet weight) in FRDA did not significantly differ from normal controls (iron: 1.78 +/- 0.88 mumol/g; ferritin: 210.9 +/- 9.0 mug/g) but Western blots exhibited a shift to light ferritin subunits. Immunocytochemistry of the dentate nucleus revealed loss of juxtaneuronal ferritin-containing oligodendroglia and prominent ferritin immunoreactivity in microglia and astrocytes. Mitochondrial ferritin was not detectable by immunocytochemistry. Stains for the divalent metal transporter 1 confirmed neuronal loss while endothelial cells reacting with antibodies to transferrin receptor 1 protein showed crowding of blood vessels due to collapse of the normal neuropil. Regions of grumose degeneration were strongly reactive for ferroportin. Purkinje cell bodies, their dendrites and axons, were also ferroportin-positive, and it is likely that grumose degeneration is the morphological manifestation of mitochondrial iron dysmetabolism in the terminals of corticonuclear fibers. Neuronal loss in the dentate nucleus is the likely result of trans-synaptic degeneration.
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PMID:The dentate nucleus in Friedreich's ataxia: the role of iron-responsive proteins. 1744 34

The effect of iron regulatory protein-2 (IRP2) on ferritin expression and neuronal vulnerability to hemoglobin was assessed in primary cortical cell cultures prepared from wild-type and IRP2 knockout mice. Baseline levels of H and L-ferritin subunits were significantly increased in IRP2 knockout neurons and astrocytes. Hemoglobin was toxic to wild-type neurons in mixed neuron-astrocyte cultures, with an LC(50) near 3 microM for a 24 h exposure. Neuronal death was reduced by 85-95% in knockout cultures, and also in cultures containing knockout neurons plated on wild-type astrocytes. Protein carbonylation, reactive oxygen species formation, and heme oxygenase-1 expression after hemoglobin treatment were also attenuated by IRP2 gene deletion. These results suggest that IRP2 binding activity increases the vulnerability of neurons to hemoglobin, possibly by reducing ferritin expression. Therapeutic strategies that target this regulatory mechanism may be beneficial after hemorrhagic CNS injuries.
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PMID:Neurons lacking iron regulatory protein-2 are highly resistant to the toxicity of hemoglobin. 1857 25

Neuronal iron homeostasis disruption and oxidative stress are closely related to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Adult iron-regulatory protein 2 knockout (Ireb2(-/-)) mice develop iron accumulation in white matter tracts and nuclei in different brain area and display severe neurodegeneration in Purkinje cells of the cerebrum. Mitochondrial ferritin (MtFt), a newly discovered ferritin, specifically expresses in high energy-consuming cells, including neurons of brain and spinal cord. Interestingly, the decreased expression of MtFt in cerebrum, but not in striatum, matches the differential neurodegeneration pattern in these Ireb2(-/-) mice. To explore its effect on neurodegeneration, the effects of MtFt expression on 6-hydrodopamine (6-OHDA)-induced neuronal damage was examined. The overexpression of MtFt led to a cytosolic iron deficiency in the neuronal cells and significantly prevented the alteration of iron redistribution induced by 6-OHDA. Importantly, MtFt strongly inhibited mitochondrial damage, decreased production of the reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, and dramatically rescued apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3 pathways. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that MtFt plays an important role in preventing neuronal damage in an 6-OHDA-induced parkinsonian phenotype by maintaining iron homeostasis. Regulation of MtFt expression in neuronal cells may provide a new neuroprotective strategy for PD.
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PMID:Neuroprotective mechanism of mitochondrial ferritin on 6-hydroxydopamine-induced dopaminergic cell damage: implication for neuroprotection in Parkinson's disease. 2012 42

Iron is required for organismal growth. Therefore, limiting iron availability may be a key part of the host's innate immune response to various pathogens, for example, in Drosophila infected with Zygomycetes. One way the host can transiently reduce iron bioavailability is by ferritin overexpression. To study the effects of neuronal-specific ferritin overexpression on survival and neurodegeneration we generated flies simultaneously over-expressing transgenes for both ferritin subunits in all neurons. We used two independent recombinant chromosomes bearing UAS-Fer1HCH, UAS-Fer2LCH transgenes and obtained qualitatively different levels of late-onset behavioral and lifespan declines. We subsequently discovered that one parental strain had been infected with a virulent form of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia, causing widespread neuronal apoptosis and premature death. This phenotype was exacerbated by ferritin overexpression and was curable by antibiotic treatment. Neuronal ferritin overexpression in uninfected flies did not cause evident neurodegeneration but resulted in a late-onset behavioral decline, as previously reported for ferritin overexpression in glia. The results suggest that ferritin overexpression in the central nervous system of flies is tolerated well in young individuals with adverse manifestations appearing only late in life or under unrelated pathophysiological conditions.
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PMID:Behavioral decline and premature lethality upon pan-neuronal ferritin overexpression in Drosophila infected with a virulent form of Wolbachia. 2477 84


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