title: Antioxidant and Metal Chelation-Based Therapies in the Treatment of Prion Disease.
abstract: Many neurodegenerative disorders involve the accumulation of multimeric assemblies and amyloid derived from misfolded conformers of constitutively expressed proteins. In addition, the brains of patients and experimental animals afflicted with prion disease display evidence of heightened oxidative stress and damage, as well as disturbances to transition metal homeostasis. Utilising a variety of disease model paradigms, many laboratories have demonstrated that copper can act as a cofactor in the antioxidant activity displayed by the prion protein while manganese has been implicated in the generation and stabilisation of disease-associated conformers. This and other evidence has led several groups to test dietary and chelation therapy-based regimens to manipulate brain metal concentrations in attempts to influence the progression of prion disease in experimental mice. Results have been inconsistent. This review examines published data on transition metal dyshomeostasis, free radical generation and subsequent oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of prion disease. It also comments on the efficacy of trialed therapeutics chosen to combat such deleterious changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. brazier@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Marcus W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Brazier
authors.affiliation: The Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. agw@unimelb.edu.au.|School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. agw@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Anthony G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Wedd
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. stevenjc@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Collins
keywords: CJD; Cu; Mn; SOD2; amyloid; antioxidant; chelation; hydroxyl radical; oxidative stress; superoxide dismutase; therapy; transmissible spongiform encephalopathy