CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Aluminum is etiologically and epidemiologically related to several neurologicaldisorders, including Alzheimer´s, Parkinson´s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Exposure to high levels of this metal leads to neurofibrillary and neuronaldegeneration and induces neurobehavioral deficits and morphological changes inthe brain. The mechanism of aluminum neurotoxicity has been associated withseveral cellular phenomena, among them, a disturbance of intracellular Ca2+homeostasis. Effectively, we have recently demonstrate that Al3+ inhibits the Ca2+-ATPase activity of the plasma membrane (PMCA) and sarcoplasmic reticulum(SERCA) calcium pumps [1] and produces an increase in intracellular Ca2+ [2].Flavonoids are commonly found in fruits and vegetables and they are also part ofhuman diet It is known that flavonoids have anti-oxidant activity. They preventmetal-mediated generation of free radicals because they are capable ofsequestering metal ions by chelatingIn this context, the aim of this work was to evaluate if the flavonoid quercetinprotects PMCA from inhibition by aluminum and to characterize the mechanism bywhich it does so. Our results suggest that quercetin protects PMCA from aluminuminhibition because it has a chelating effect on this trivalent cation and thequercetin-Al3+ complex does not bind to PMCA. In addition, the presence ofquercetin partially reverses the effect of the inhibitory effect of aluminum,suggesting that its administration is a potential strategy to reverse the effect ofaluminum at the cellular level.References[1] De Sautu M, Saffioti NA, Ferreira-Gomes MS, Rossi RC, Rossi JPFC andMangialavori IC. BBA-Biomembrane (2018) 860(8):1580-1588.[2] XLII Congreso da Sociedade Brasileira de Biofisica. Sao Pablo, Brasil. 27-29 deoctubre de 2017. ?Inhibition of the plasma membrane calcium pump by aluminiumin vitro and in living cells? De Sautu, M., Ferreira-Gomes M, Saffioti N, Rinaldi D,Rossi, R, Rossi JPFC and Mangialavori, IC.