Abstract
ABSTRACTThe placenta transports iron to the fetus to support growth and development. Mice are commonly used to study placental iron transport. The subcellular locations of transferrin receptor and ferroportin 1 in iron-transporting cells in the mouse placenta have not been directly assessed. Using immunogold electron microscopy, we determined that transferrin receptor is concentrated on the intracellular vesicles in syncytiotrophoblast I while ferroportin 1 is on the basal membrane of syncytiotrophoblast II. Fluorescent imaging of maternally injected transferrin iron in the placentas collected at 6 time points postinjection (n = 1–3 animals/time point) showed that transferrin iron was taken up and metabolized within syncytiotrophoblast I within 48 h after injection. These data indicate that the intracellular iron-trafficking mechanism is distinct in different placental cells.
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