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Abstract: Metal ions, especially redox active copper, are thought to play critical roles in neurodegenerative disorders. As a matter of fact, metal binding may result into severe conformational changes of proteins involved in neurodegeneration. The present review describes the interactions of metal ions with model peptides mimicking metal binding sites of such proteins, including the prion protein, the β-amyloid and the α-synuclein that have been related to the pathological onset of spongiform encephalopathies, Alzheimer''s disease and Parkinson''s disease, respectively. Using short protein fragments provides successful tools for characterizing the metal ion interaction with protein domains devoid of any defined secondary structure, and allows one to gain structural information on the metal ion binding properties of the corresponding proteins. Moreover, such an approach based on simplified models yields a multidimensional knowledge that would be never accessible for the natural systems, thus providing a significant and powerful tool for biochemical studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The prion proteins may play a critical role in copper homeostasis and the antioxidant activity in the brain. This review presents the state of art in the studies on Cu2+ prion systems. The proteins discussed are from different species from mammals to fishes. All proteins are His-rich and the research discussed clearly indicates the basic role of imidazole side chains and the adjacent amide nitrogen atoms in metal ion binding. Prions represent the family of proteins with new mode of Cu2+ binding which includes the amide nitrogen coordination. The multi-imidazole coordination is also likely and it can play a critical role in the antioxidant activity of the copper–prion complexes. The combination of the imidazole and amide nitrogen atoms to Cu2+ ions could also be relevant in histidine-rich peptide antibiotics including demegen. The impact of peptide sequence and His positions on copper binding ability is also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]