Role of Copper and Zinc Ions in the Hydrolytic Degradation of Neurodegeneration-Related Peptides.

ABSTRACT: Spontaneous cleavage reactions normally occur in vivo on amino acid peptide backbones, leading to fragmentation products that can have different physiological roles and toxicity, particularly when the substrate of the hydrolytic processes are neuronal peptides and proteins highly related to neurodegeneration. We report a hydrolytic study performed with the HPLC-MS technique at different temperatures (4 °C and 37 °C) on peptide fragments of different neuronal proteins (amyloid-β, tau, and α-synuclein) in physiological conditions in the presence of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ ions, two metal ions found at millimolar concentrations in amyloid plaques. The coordination of these metal ions with these peptides significantly protects their backbones toward hydrolytic degradation, preservi

SUBMITTER: Pirota V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11767661 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature