Inhibition of copper-mediated aggregation of human γD-crystallin by Schiff bases.

Protein aggregation, due to the imbalance in the concentration of Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) ions is found to be allied with various physiological disorders. Copper is known to promote the oxidative damage of β/γ-crystallins in aged eye lens and causes their aggregation leading to cataract. Therefore, synthesis of a small-molecule 'chelator' for Cu(2+) with complementary antioxidant effect will find potential applications against aggregation of β/γ-crystallins. In this paper, we have reported the synthesis of different Schiff bases and studied their Cu(2+) complexation ability (using UV-Vis, FT-IR and ESI-MS) and antioxidant activity. Further based on their copper complexation efficiency, Schiff bases were used to inhibit Cu(2+)-mediated aggregation of recombinant human γD-crystallin (HGD) and β/γ-crystallins (isolated from cataractous human eye lens). Among these synthesized molecules, compound 8 at a concentration of 100 μM had shown ~95% inhibition of copper (100 μM)-induced aggregation. Compound 8 also showed a positive cooperative effect at a concentration of 5-15 μM on the inhibitory activity of human αA-crystallin (HAA) during Cu(2+)-induced aggregation of HGD. It eventually inhibited the aggregation process by additional ~20%. However, ~50% inhibition of copper-mediated aggregation of β/γ-crystallins (isolated from cataractous human eye lens) was recorded by compound 8 (100 μM). Although the reductive aminated products of the imines showed better antioxidant activity due to their lower copper complexing ability, they were found to be non-effective against Cu(2+)-mediated aggregation of HGD.