Fig. 1.

Experimental setup. Mini osmotic pumps were inserted subcutaneously in three-month-old male and female mice (A). Pumps contained nothing (sham), aCSF, 1 mg/mL apo-Tf, or 1 mg/mL holo-Tf. Forty-eight hours after the surgery, mice were injected IP with radioactive ⁵⁵Fe-Tf or ⁵⁵Fe-Fth1. Twenty-four hours later the mice were euthanized and perused. Brains were collected and homogenized. Microvessels (MV) were isolated from the brain parenchyma using centrifugation. Both fractions of MVs and brain parenchyma were further solubilized. Radioactivity in each fraction was determined using liquid scintillation counting. Western blotting was performed on brain parenchyma and MV fractions (B). The blots show von Willebrand factor, an endothelial cell specific marker, present in the MV fraction and not in the brain parenchyma fraction. TUJ1, a neuronal marker, is shown in the brain parenchyma fraction and not the MV fraction. Cyclophilin B was used as a loading control for samples