COPPER-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF DIFFERENT PROTEINS INVOLVED IN IRON METABOLISM

Copper and iron are two essential elements for all the organisms because are indispensable for basic cellular processes. It is known that there is a close correlation between the metabolism of iron and copper, and ceruloplasmin fully represents the correlation between these two elements Moreover, recent studies have suggested that alteration of copper metabolism is one of thè pathogenetic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease and Wilson's disease in whìch was observed an increase of iron accumulation inside cells and organs. Different studies were carried out in copper deficiency conditions in which expression of different proteìns involved in iron metabolism were considered but the effect of thìs, combined with inflammation conditions, was never considered. In the light of these knowledge, the aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of copper deficiency, obtained by a specific chelating agent (BCS), on the expression of some proteins involved in iron metabolism such as Ceruloplasmin, Ferroportin, Transferrin Receptor 1, Divalent Metal Transporter 1, in normal conditions and in combination with the pro-inflammatory cytokine interieutdn-ó, using, as experimenfal model, human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG2. The results obtained have highlighted that the expression of these proteins are influenced by the different treatments, suggesting a more complex effect of copper deficiency on cellular iron metabolism.