Fig. 5: Therapeutic focus of different diseases.
From: Copper homeostasis and cuproptosis in central nervous system diseases
Copper overload promotes the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, with excess copper accumulating in diseased areas, leading to nerve cell death, neuroinflammation, and the development of oxidative stress. The therapeutic strategy focuses on the removal of copper accumulation at the lesion site by copper chelators to reduce neurotoxicity. However, it is not quite the same with tumors. On the one hand, copper promotes the proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. The progression of tumor cells can be inhibited by copper chelators. On the other hand, large amounts of copper can induce cuproptosis in tumor cells. Tumor growth can be inhibited by copper ionophores and Cu-based nanomaterials.
