Metal-Peptide Complexes to Study Neurodegenerative Diseases

Methods Mol Biol. 2020:2103:323-336. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0227-0_22.

Abstract

Dishomeostasis of Cu(II) ions in the human body is connected with several serious diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or Wilson's disease. Therefore, a deep understanding of Cu(II)-binding properties to metal ions carriers, together with the knowledge about how they can interact with other copper-binding partners, e.g., amyloid-β (Aβ), is required to assess their relevance to the brain metal homeostasis. Ultraviolet-visible spectrometry (UV-Vis) and circular dichroism (CD) were used to study the coordination characteristics of Cu(II) with peptide containing the amino-terminal (H2N-Xaa-Yaa-His-) copper-binding (ATCUN) motif (Aβ12-16-VHHQK-NH2) derived from Aβ peptide.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Circular dichroism (CD); Copper ions; Metal–peptide complexes; Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / chemistry
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Coordination Complexes / chemistry*
  • Copper / chemistry
  • Drug Discovery
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Ions
  • Metals / chemistry*
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / drug therapy
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Protein Binding
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Coordination Complexes
  • Ions
  • Metals
  • Peptides
  • Copper