TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuropeptides
T2 - Roles and Activities as Metal Chelators in Neurodegenerative Diseases
AU - Ben-Shushan, Shira
AU - Miller, Yifat
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 532/15). All of the simulations were performed using the high-performance computational facilities of the Miller lab in the BGU HPC computational center. The support of the BGU HPC computational center staff is greatly appreciated.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2/11
Y1 - 2021/2/11
N2 - Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), are characterized by deposits of amyloid proteins. The homeostasis of metal ions is crucial for the normal biological functions in the brain. However, in AD and PD, the imbalance of metal ions leads to formation of amyloid deposits. In the past four decades, there has been extensive effort to design compound agents than can chelate metal ions with the aim of preventing the formation of the amyloid deposits. Unfortunately, the compounds to date that were designed were not successful candidates to be used in clinical trials. Neuropeptides are small molecules that are produced and released by neurons. It has been shown that neuropeptides have neuroprotective effects in the brain and reduce the formation of amyloid deposits. This Review Article is focused on the function of neuropeptides as metal chelators. Experimental and computational studies demonstrated that neuropeptides could bind metal ions, such as Cu2+ and Zn2+. This Review Article provides perspectives and initiates future studies to investigate the role of neuropeptides as metal chelators in neurodegenerative diseases.
AB - Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), are characterized by deposits of amyloid proteins. The homeostasis of metal ions is crucial for the normal biological functions in the brain. However, in AD and PD, the imbalance of metal ions leads to formation of amyloid deposits. In the past four decades, there has been extensive effort to design compound agents than can chelate metal ions with the aim of preventing the formation of the amyloid deposits. Unfortunately, the compounds to date that were designed were not successful candidates to be used in clinical trials. Neuropeptides are small molecules that are produced and released by neurons. It has been shown that neuropeptides have neuroprotective effects in the brain and reduce the formation of amyloid deposits. This Review Article is focused on the function of neuropeptides as metal chelators. Experimental and computational studies demonstrated that neuropeptides could bind metal ions, such as Cu2+ and Zn2+. This Review Article provides perspectives and initiates future studies to investigate the role of neuropeptides as metal chelators in neurodegenerative diseases.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101626580&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c11151
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c11151
M3 - Article
C2 - 33570949
SN - 1520-6106
VL - 125
SP - 2796
EP - 2811
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
IS - 11
ER -