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Study of iron complexes in visceral organs and brain from a ${}^57$Fe enriched $β$-thalassaemia mouse model via Mössbauer Spectroscopy

The hearts, kidneys, livers, spleens and brains of ${}^57$Fe enriched wild-type and heterozygous $β$-thalassaemic mice at 1, 3, 6 and 9 months of age were studied by means of Mössbauer Spectroscopy at 80K. Ferritin-like iron depositions in the heart and the brain of the thalassaemic mice were found to be slightly increased while significant amounts of Ferritin-like iron were found in the kidneys, liver and spleen. The ferritin-like iron doublet, found in the organs, could be further separated into two sub-doublets representing the inner and surface structures of ferritin mineral core. Surface iron sites were found to be predominant in the hearts and brains of all mice and in the kidneys of the wild-type animals. Ferritin rich in inner iron sites was predominant in the kidneys of the thalassaemic mice, as well as in the livers and in the spleens. The inner-to-surface iron sites ratio was elevated in all thalassaemic samples indicating that besides ferritin amount, the disease can also affect ferritin mineral core structure.