Fig. 1.

Impaired recycling of erythrocyte-derived iron by splenic macrophages in KO mice. Perls' Prussian blue staining was performed to visualize the location of iron deposits within the spleen. Hematoxylin and eosin counterstains were used. Arrows point to blue iron-positive deposits and show localization of iron to splenic macrophages (A), 36-week-old mice (B), and chronically phenylhydrazine-treated mice (C). Three representative nonoverlapping fields were scored for blue iron-positive deposits (indicated by arrows). Areas staining positive for iron were converted to pixels, quantified with Northern Eclipse 6.0 software, and expressed as a percentage of the total surface area of the field (D). *, P < 0.05; ***, P < 0.001.