Increased Divalent Metal Transporter 1 Expression Might Be Associated with the Neurotoxicity of L-DOPA

Based on the available data, we speculated that changes in brain iron metabolism induced by L-DOPA might be associated with the neurotoxicity of L-DOPA. To investigate this possibility, the effects of L-DOPA on the expression of iron influx proteins [transferrin receptor (TfR) and divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1)], iron efflux protein (ferroportin 1), and iron uptake in C6 glioma cells were determined in this study using Northern blot and Western blot analysis and the calcein method. The findings showed that treatment of C6 cells with different concentrations of L-DOPA (0–100 M) did not affect the expression of mRNA and protein of TfR and DMT1 with iron-responsive element (IRE) and protein of ferroportin 1. However, a significant in-crease in the expression of DMT1(IRE) mRNA and protein was found in cells treated, respectively, with 10 and 30