Clawing back: broadening the notion of metal chelators in medicine.

Clawing back: broadening the notion of metal chelators in medicine.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2013 Jan 16;
Authors: Franz KJ
Abstract
The traditional notion of chelation therapy is the administration of a chemical agent to remove metals from the body. But formation of a metal-chelate can have biological ramifications that are much broader than metal elimination. Exploring these other possibilities could lead to pharmacological interventions that alter the concentration, distribution, or reactivity of metals in targeted ways for therapeutic benefit. This review highlights recent examples that showcase four general strategies of using principles of metal chelation in medicinal contexts beyond the traditional notion of chelation therapy. These strategies include altering metal biodistribution, inhibiting specific metalloenzymes associated with disease, enhancing the reactivity of a metal complex to promote cytotoxicity, and conversely, passivating the reactivity of metals by site-activated chelation to prevent cytotoxicity.
PMID: 23332666 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - January 16, 2013 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Franz KJ Tags: Curr Opin Chem Biol Source Type: research