Change in the characteristics of ferritin induces iron imbalance in prion disease affected brains

► Iron is trapped in heat and SDS-stable protein complexes in sCJD brains. ► This causes iron deficiency that correlates with PrPSc. ► Iron may be trapped in PrPSc-ferritin complexes in an intracellular compartment. ► PrPSc and ferritin do not co-aggregate in a PMCA reaction. ► PrPSc-protein complexes formed in vivo differ from PrPSc generated by PMCA.