Cellular up-regulation of Nedd4 family interacting protein 1 (Ndfip1) using low levels of bioactive cobalt complexes

Abstract

The delivery of metal ions using cell membrane-permeable metal complexes represents a method for activating cellular pathways. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of new [CoIII(salen)(acac)] complexes capable of up-regulating the ubiquitin ligase adaptor protein Ndfip1. Ndfip1 is a neuroprotective protein that is up-regulated in the brain after injury and functions in combination with Nedd4 ligases to ubiquitinate harmful proteins for removal. We previously showed that Ndfip1 can be increased in human neurons using CoCl2 that is toxic at high concentration. Here we demonstrate a similar effect can be achieved by low concentrations of synthetic Co III complexes that are non-tox..