Iron homeostasis in mice : does liver lobe matter?

The liver plays a crucial role in maintaining systemic iron homeostasis through iron storage, sensing of systemic iron needs, and production of the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin. While mice are commonly used as models for studying human iron homeostasis, their liver structure differs significantly from humans. Since the mouse liver is structured in six separated lobes, often, the analysis of a single defined lobe is preferred due to concerns over data reproducibility between experimental cohorts. In this study, we compared iron-related parameters in distinct liver lobes of C57BL/6 wild-type mice across different ages. We found that the non-heme iron levels, as well as the mRNA and protein expression of iron storage protein Ferritin and the iron importer Transferrin Receptor 1, were similar between liver lobes. Additionally, the mRNA expression of Hepcidin, as well as its regulators, Bmp2 and Bmp6, and iron importers Zip8 and Zip14 were comparable. Minor differences were observed in Ferroportin mRNA levels of 24-wk-old mice; however, this did not correlate with altered iron content. The findings in wild-type mice were reproduced in Hfe knock-out mice - a well-established genetic model of the most prevalent form of hemochromatosis. Overall, our results indicate that C57BL/6 mouse liver lobes can be used interchangeably for assessing iron content and expression of iron-related genes. Understanding if these findings are applicable to other mouse developmental stages, strains, or models of (iron-related) disorders will be key to promote reduction of experimental animal numbers and facilitate resource sharing among research groups studying liver iron homeostasis.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study reveals that, despite being structurally separated, liver lobes from C57BL/6 wild-type and iron-overloaded mice can be used interchangeably for the evaluation of iron content and expression of iron-related genes.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:325

Enthalten in:

American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology - 325(2023), 5 vom: 01. Nov., Seite G453-G457

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Colucci, Silvia [VerfasserIn]
Carvalho Oliveira, Tiago [VerfasserIn]
Muckenthaler, Martina U [VerfasserIn]
Marques, Oriana [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Animal reduction
E1UOL152H7
Hemochromatosis Protein
Hepcidins
Histocompatibility Antigens Class I
Iron
Journal Article
Liver
Mouse model
RNA, Messenger
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 01.11.2023

Date Revised 18.11.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1152/ajpgi.00085.2023

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM361655479