Metals, Metalloproteins and Disease

Friedreich Ataxia (FRDA) and Aceruloplasminemia are both autosomal recessive disorders with severe impacts on the human body. They underscore the importance of metal homeostasis in the body, more specifically how crucial metals like iron and copper, although essential for numerous biological processes, can cause severe harm when misregulated. Friedreich Ataxia results from a genetic mutation … Read more

Zinc is an important nutrient, which plays an important role in the function of over 300 enzymes and transcription factors, which are essential for almost every cell in our body. It’s especially important for our immune system, helping it develop and function properly. When we do not get enough zinc, it can lead to a … Read more

Iron is an important micronutrient that is involved in many important processes in the body, one of these important processes is the ability of the iron to transport oxygen through haemoglobin in the red blood cells. If there is a reduction in oxygen carrying capacity it can lead to condition known as anaemias. Recently scientists … Read more

Viruses are a unique entity that function by using certain tools present in normal hostcells that they themselves do not contain. Viruses generally consist of a lipid, or fatty, outerlayer, and an interior that contains DNA or its counterpart RNA. However, there is a wholeplethora of information to be discovered about the role of metals … Read more

In this article, they are trying to find compound derivatives that can inhibit matrix metalloproteases by binding to the active site, effectively blocking them from performing their function. They characterized the inhibiting behavior of TPA, one of the most effective inhibitors, and found that upon diluting the enzyme off its inhibitor, that binding is reversible. … Read more

In this article, they wanted to see how MMP-14 was correlated with resistance to genotoxic stress and response of cancer to radio- and chemotherapy in patients. They demonstrate the elevated levels of expression of MMP-14, a matrix remodeling enzyme that degrades the extracellular environment for tissue invasion, in aggressive carcinomas compared to nonmetastatic ones, as … Read more

This article seeks to understand the relationship between the transcription factor Ets-1 and cancer progression. To do this, they test whether Ets-1 activation leads to the expression of MMP-9, a matrix remodeling protein that degrades extracellular components to facilitate tissue invasion in carcinoma. They found this to be the case when reducing expression of Ets-1 … Read more

This review explores how epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important process of cancer progression and metastasis, is regulated by a group of transcription factors. Some of the worst types of breast cancers present high levels of ZEB1/2, a family of transcription factors that are associated with EMT. In cells with high levels of ZEB1/2, ERK pathways … Read more

            Please refer to the first paragraph of the blog post titled “Mutations in the ECD of Zip4 lead to misfolding of Zip4 and acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE)” on the “Metals, Metalloproteins and Disease” blog for a description of acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE), its causes, its symptoms, and its traditional treatments.             In brief, this paper explores … Read more

            Acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE) is a disorder that results from zinc (Zn) deficiency in the cell. AE results from mutations in the SLC39A4 gene, which encode the Zip4 protein, a protein that brings Zn into the cytosol. It is most prevalent in babies, particularly when they are being weaned off breast milk. A second cause … Read more