Neurological development and functioning of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission is adversely affected by iron deficiency in early life. Iron-deficient rats demonstrate significant elevations in extracellular DA and a reduction in dopamine transporter (DAT) densities in the caudate putamen and nucleus accumbens. To explore possible mechanisms by which cellular iron concentrations control DAT functioning, endogenous DAT-expressing PC12 cells were used to determine the effect of iron chelation on DAT protein and mRNA expression patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMale and female mice from 15 of the BXD/Ty recombinant inbred strain panel were examined for regional brain and liver iron content. Brain regions included medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, caudate-putamen and ventral midbrain. Our focal tissue was the ventral midbrain, containing the ventral tegmentum and substantia nigra.
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