Skip to main content
. 2014 Mar 10;20(8):1324–1363. doi: 10.1089/ars.2012.4931

FIG. 8.

FIG. 8.

Iron transport across the BBB. The BBB (top) is formed by a tight monolayer of endothelial cells surrounded by astroglial foot processes on the baso-lateral surface. Tf-bound Fe3+ iron is captured by TfRs on the luminal or apical membrane of endothelial cells and released in the acidic environment of the endosomes (below). Released Fe3+ iron is reduced to the Fe2+ form before transport across DMT1 to the cytosol. Subsequently, iron is transported across the abluminal or basolateral membrane through Fpn to the brain interstitial fluid where it is oxidized back to Fe3+ by Cp or Hp for loading to Tf. The TfR is recycled back to the apical membrane. Figure adapted from Crichton et al. (97) and Ke and Qian (224).

HHS Vulnerability Disclosure