Minding metals: tailoring multifunctional chelating agents for neurodegenerative disease.
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are associated
with elevated levels of iron, copper, and zinc and consequentially high levels of
oxidative stress. Given the multifactorial nature of these diseases, it is becoming
evident that the next generation of therapies must have multiple functions to combat
multiple mechanisms of disease progression. Metal-chelating agents provide one such
function as an intervention for ameliorating metal-associated damage in degenerative
diseases. Targeting chelators to adjust localized metal imbalances in the brain, however,
presents significant challenges. In this perspective, we focus on some noteworthy
advances in the area of multifunctional metal chelators as potential therapeutic agents
for neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to metal chelating ability, these agents
also contain features designed to improve their uptake across the blood-brain barrier,
increase their selectivity for metals in damage-prone environments, increase antioxidant
capabilities, lower Abeta peptide aggregation, or inhibit disease-associated enzymes
such as monoamine oxidase and acetylcholinesterase.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/4119Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1039/b919237aPublication Info
Perez, Lissette R; & Franz, Katherine J (2010). Minding metals: tailoring multifunctional chelating agents for neurodegenerative disease.
Dalton Trans, 39(9). pp. 2177-2187. 10.1039/b919237a. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/4119.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Katherine J. Franz
Chair of the Department of Chemistry
Research in the Franz group is involved in elucidating the structural and functional
consequences of metal ion coordination in biological systems. We are particularly
interested in understanding the coordination chemistry utilized by biology to manage
essential yet toxic species like copper and iron. Understanding these principles
further guides our development of new chemical tools to manipulate biological metal
ion location, speciation, and reactivity for potential therapeutic benefit. We use

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