Inorganic Seminar - Liliana Quintanar

Copper is an essential cofactor of metalloenzymes, yet it is also implicated in several degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer´s, Parkinson´s, prion diseases, diabetes type 2, and cataracts. Some proteins implicated in these diseases are also copper-binding proteins. Our research group aims to understand the nature of these metal-protein interactions to provide further insights into the bioinorganic chemistry of these diseases. In this seminar, Cu-protein interactions that are key players in neuroprotective mechanisms at the synapse that are affected in Alzheimer´s disease, will be discussed. Also, our recent findings on the mechanisms of copper-induced aggregation of human lens b/g-crystallins, associated to cataract disease, will be presented; with emphasis in a striking copper reductase activity of g-crystallins.