Copper and Alzheimer disease: The good, the bad and the ugly

Abstract

Copper is vital to normal brain function; but its potent redox activity demands tight regulation to maintain the integrity of copper homeostasis. Disrupted regulation can result in copper displacement, causing inadvertent interactions between copper and cellular components, which can enhance the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), formation of neurotoxic copper-protein aggregates, and eventually, neuronal cell death. Disrupted copper homeostasis is a feature common to many neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease, Wilson's disease, Menkes disease and prion disease. This review focuses on the involvement of copper in AD. An intrinsic reciprocal re..