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The Role of Ferroptosis in Blood–Brain Barrier Injury

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Abstract

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is an important barrier that maintains homeostasis within the central nervous system. Brain microvascular endothelial cells are arranged to form vessel walls and express tight junctional complexes that limit the paracellular pathways of the BBB and therefore play a crucial role in ensuring brain function. These vessel walls tightly regulate the movement of ions, molecules, and cells between the blood and the brain, which protect the neural tissue from toxins and pathogens. Primary damage caused by BBB dysfunction can disrupt the expression of tight junctions, transport proteins and leukocyte adhesion molecules, leading to brain edema, disturbances in ion homeostasis, altered signaling and immune infiltration, which can lead to neuronal cell death. Various neurological diseases are known to cause BBB dysfunction, but the mechanism that causes this disorder is not clear. Recently, ferroptosis has been found to play an important role in BBB dysfunction. Ferroptosis is a new form of regulatory cell death, which is caused by the excessive accumulation of lipid peroxides and iron-dependent reactive oxygen species. This review summarizes the role of ferroptosis in BBB dysfunction and the latest progress of ferroptosis mechanism, and further discusses the influence of various factors of ferroptosis on the severity and prognosis of BBB dysfunction, which may provide better therapeutic targets for BBB dysfunction.

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Abbreviations

15-LOX:

15-Lipoxygenase

AA:

Arachidonic acid

AC:

Astrocytes

ACSL4:

Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases 4

AD:

Alzheimer disease

AdA:

Adrenic acid

AFIM2:

Apoptosis-inducing factor mitochondrial 2

AJs:

Adhesion junctions

AMP:

Adenosine 5′-monophosphate

AMPK:

Adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase

ATF4:

Activation of transcription factor 4

BBB:

Blood–brain barrier

BH2:

Dihydrobiopterin

BH4:

Tetrahydrobiopterin

BMECs:

Brain microvascular endothelial cells

CNS:

Central nervous system

CoQ10:

Coenzyme Q10

COX:

Cyclooxygenase

Cp:

Ceruloplasmin

CXCL-1:

C-X-C motif chemokine ligand-1

CysLTs:

Cysteine leukotrienes

DFO:

Desferal

DHFR:

Dihydrofolate reductase

DHODH:

Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase

DMT1:

Divalent metal transporter 1

ESCRT-III:

Endosomal sorting complex required for transport

FPN1:

Ferroportin 1

FSP1:

Ferroptosis suppressor protein 1

FTH1:

Ferritin heavy chain

FTL:

Ferritin light chain

GCH1:

GTP cyclohydroxylase-1

GPX4:

Glutathione peroxidase 4

GSH:

Glutathione

GSSG:

Oxidized Glutathione

HAMP:

Hepcidin antimicrobial peptide

HNE:

4-Hydroxynonenal

IRP2:

Iron regulatory protein 2

l-Cys:

L-cysteine

LIP:

Labile iron pool

LPCAT3:

Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3

LPS:

Lipopolysaccharide

LTs:

Leukotrienes

MCP-1:

Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1

MEG3:

Maternal expression gene 3

MIP-1α:

Macrophage inflammatory protein-1α

MRC:

Mitochondrial respiratory chain

MS:

Multiple sclerosis

NH2TP:

7,8-Dihydroneopterin triphosphate

NVU:

Neurovascular unit

PE:

Phosphatidylethanolamine

PIC:

Proinflammatory cytokines

PLOH:

Phospholipid alcohol

PTP:

Protein tyrosine phosphatase

PTS:

6-Pyruvoyl tetrahydrobiopterin synthase

pTyr:

Phosphorylation

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acid

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SEC:

Selenocysteine

SECIS:

Selenocysteine insertion sequences

SLC3A2:

Solute carrier family 3, member 2

SLC7A11:

Solute carrier family 7, member 11

SP1:

Specific protein 1

SPR:

Sepiapterin reductase

STEAP3:

Six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of the prostate

TCA cycle:

Tricarboxylic acid cycle

TF:

Transferrin

TFAP2C:

Sec-induced transcription factor AP-2γ

TFR1:

Transferrin receptor 1

TJs:

Tight junctions

ZO:

Zonula occludens

α-TOH:

α-Tocopherol

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China and Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province.

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81571880; 81373147; 30901555; 30972870; 81360080; 82172147) and Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant Nos. 2016JJ2157; 2021JJ30900).

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YL and JZ designed and directed the project. YZ wrote the manuscript. YZ, YL, YX, KL, HQ, QX and JZ collected materials. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ying Liu or Jie Zhao.

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Zhao, Y., Liu, Y., Xu, Y. et al. The Role of Ferroptosis in Blood–Brain Barrier Injury. Cell Mol Neurobiol 43, 223–236 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-022-01197-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-022-01197-5

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