Fig. 1.

ApoE deficiency resulted in a progressive increase in body iron levels with age in mice.

Iron content and/or FTL expression in the blood, liver and spleen of ApoE KO (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice at different ages (1, 2, 4 and 10 m = 1,2, 4, and 10 months) were determined as described in “Methods".

A - D: Total iron contents in the liver (A and C) and spleen (B and D) were measured by a GFAAS (A and B) and DAB-enhanced Perls’ iron staining (C and D; Scale bar = 50 μm); E − H: Western blot analysis of FTL expression in the liver (E and G) and spleen (F and H); I: Serum ferritin.

All n = 7 in WT; n = 10 in KO. Data were the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs. WT mice.