Iron Oxides in the Human Brain

Collingwood, Joanna F.; Telling, Neil D.

Abstract

The presence and formation of iron oxide in the human brain are of interest to those engaged in understanding fundamental processes of biomineralization and of iron metabolism in neurobiology and neuropathology. There is evidence for the formation of six of the recognized iron oxides in human brain tissue, namely, ferrihydrite, goethite, hematite, magnetite, maghemite, and wüstite. The evidence includes experimental data from intact brain tissue and extracted material, but some of our present understanding relies on observations from other organs or species. The local environment of an iron oxide nanoparticle in the brain, whether it be enclosed in mitochondrial ferritin, neuromelanin bound, or embedded in aggregated protein fragments, will play a significant role in determining the oxide phases that are formed, and much remains to be understood about the dynamics involved in iron oxide precipitation, transformation, and degradation in the human brain. In this chapter we review established findings, areas of progress, and open questions. Our capacity to understand, measure, and modify brain iron status, and to develop effective clinical technologies that rely on the introduction of iron oxides to the human brain, is dependent on furthering knowledge of the occurrence and regulation of these iron biominerals in the human brain.

• Online Publication Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2023
• Publisher: Wiley
• Pages: 143-176
• Book Title: Iron Oxides: From Nature to Applications
• Chapter Number: 7
• ISBN: 9783527338825; 9783527691395
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527691395.ch7
• Additional Information: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9783527691395