Figure 3

Hepcidin expression in neuritic processes and amyloid plaques. Confocal microscopic analysis of tissues from AD cases were immunostained for Aβ (6E10) and hepcidin antibody and counterstained with DAPI for nuclei (Blue). In AD brains, accumulation of hepcidin protein was visible in the intraneuronal compartment and in the abnormal fibrllary neuritic processes (a) and Aβ42 staining revealed characteristic plaques (b) in the hippocampus. In AD brains, the neuritic plaques with a wagon-wheel morphology and a DAPI positive nuclei (c). Diffuse Aβ rich plaques occasionally presented with areas of hepcidin accumulations (c). In the hippocampus of normal brains, hepcidin was present in pyramidal neurons of CA1, in the endosomal/lysosomal compartment (d), minimal Aβ was visible in cell bodies (e) yet showed some co-localisation with hepcidin in perinuclear locations (f). Scale bar a-f 25 μm.