INTERBIO Seminar: Metals in Alzheimer's Disease

INTERBIO Seminar Series

Title: Metals in Alzheimer's Disease: Structure and Reactivity of Copper- and Zinc-Amyloid-beta

Speaker: Peter Faller

Affiliation: Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse, France

Host: INTERBIO-ITQB

Abstract:

The metal ions copper, zinc and iron have been shown to be   involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Cu, Zn and Fe ions are proposed to be implicated in two key steps of AD pathology:   1) aggregation of the peptide amyloid-b (Ab), and 2) production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by Ab. There is   compelling evidence that Cu and Zn bind directly to Ab in AD.
This formation of Cu/Zn–Ab complexes is thought to be aberrant   as they have been detected only in AD, but not under healthy conditions. In this context, the understanding of how   these metal ions interact with Ab, their influence on structure   and oligomerization become an important issue for AD. Moreover,   the mechanism of ROS production by Cu–Ab in relation to its aggregations state, as well as the metal-transfer reaction   from and to Ab are crucial in order to understand why Ab oligomers   are highly toxic and why Ab seems to bind Cu and Zn   only in AD.