Transferrin isoforms in cerebrospinal fluid and their relation to neurological diseases.

ABSTRACT: Iron plays many important roles in the brain, including involvement in myelination, neurotransmission and electron transfer in the respiratory chain. Transferrin (Tf), an iron transporter, is mainly biosynthesized in the liver, but can also be biosynthesized in the brain; i.e., by oligodendrocytes and the choroid plexus, a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) producing tissue. The CSF contains two Tf isoforms, brain-type Tf and serum-type Tf, which differ in their glycan structures. Brain-type Tf is uniquely glycolsylated with biantennary asialo- and agalacto-complex type N-glycans that carry bisecting β1,4-GlcNAc and core α1,6-Fuc. The glycans of serum-type Tf in the CSF are similar to those of Tf in serum. Biochemical analyses reveal that the apparent molecular size of brain-type Tf is smaller than

SUBMITTER: Murakami Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6742728 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature