Authors: Ryan C McCarthy Daniel J Kosman
Publish Date: 2014/10/30
Volume: 72, Issue: 4, Pages: 709-727
Abstract
There are two barriers for iron entry into the brain 1 the brain–cerebrospinal fluid CSF barrier and 2 the blood–brain barrier BBB Here we review the literature on developmental iron accumulation by the brain focusing on the transport of iron through the brain microvascular endothelial cells BMVEC of the BBB We review the iron trafficking proteins which may be involved in the iron flux across BMVEC and discuss the plausible mechanisms of BMVEC iron uptake and efflux We suggest a model for how BMVEC iron uptake and efflux are regulated and a mechanism by which the majority of iron is trafficked across the developing BBB under the direct guidance of neighboring astrocytes Thus we place brain iron uptake in the context of the neurovascular unit of the adult brain Last we propose that BMVEC iron is involved in the aggregation of amyloidβ peptides leading to the progression of cerebral amyloid angiopathy which often occurs prior to dementia and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease
Keywords: