Developmental iron uptake and axonal transport in the retina of the rat

We examined differently aged postnatal (P) rats for the distribution and uptake of iron in the eye with the main emphasis on iron uptake in the retina. The concentration of iron in the eye was 48 μg/g in rats aged one postnatal day (P1). Then concentration fell to approximately 12 μg/g at P30 and rose to 35 μg/g at P70. Perls' stain which labels both ferrous and ferric iron was found to exhibit a weak labeling in the retina at P1 contrasted by a robust labeling of macrophages found in the choroid of the retina. In older aged rats, the labeling of cells of the retina was much more intense and confined to cells widespread in the layers of the retina. In both P16 and adult rats injected intravenously with [59Fe–125I]transferrin, the uptake of 59Fe, estimated as the volume of distribution, was significantly higher than that of [125I]transferrin, and uptake of both compounds was higher than that of simultaneously injected [131I]albumin. In the P16 rat, the uptake of 59Fe expressed as the volume of distribution, VD, rose linearly reaching approximately 2500 nl at 60 min. In the adult rat, the uptake of 59Fe was of the same magnitude. Comparing P1 and P16 rats, the uptake of 59Fe, [125I]transferrin and [131I]albumin was higher at P1 in both eyeball and retina. Emulsion autoradiography of retinas from P16 and adult rats injected with [55Fe]transferrin into the vitreous body showed uptake mainly in photoreceptor cells and retinal ganglion cells. Adult rats injected into the vitreous body with [59Fe]transferrin showed anterograde axonal transport from the retina into the optic nerve, optic tract, and superior colliculus. Immunoprecipitates of homogenates of the optic nerve revealed that 59Fe was precipitable with an antibody raised against ferritin, indicative of detachment of iron from transferrin within the axons of the retinal ganglion cells. The data demonstrate an age-dependent but continuous iron uptake by the retina, and are indicative of anterograde axonal transport of transferrin by retinal ganglion cells.