Hepcidin deficiency impairs hippocampal neurogenesis and mediates brain atrophy and memory decline in mice.

ABSTRACT: Hepcidin is the master regulator of iron homeostasis. Hepcidin downregulation has been demonstrated in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, the mechanism underlying the role of hepcidin downregulation in cognitive impairment has not been elucidated. In the present study, we generated GFAP-Cre-mediated hepcidin conditional knockout mice (HampGFAP cKO) to explore the effect of hepcidin deficiency on hippocampal structure and neurocognition. We found that the HampGFAP cKO mice developed AD-like brain atrophy and memory deficits. In particular, the weight of the hippocampus and the number of granule neurons in the dentate gyrus were significantly reduced. Further investigation demonstrated that the morphological change in the hippocampus of HampGFAP cKO mice was attributed

SUBMITTER: Bai X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10777572 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature