INTERACTION OF ALUMINUM WITH BIOMOLECULES - ANY RELEVANCE TO ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The possible involvement of aluminum in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is di scussed focusing, on the one hand, on a critical review of the analyti cal results concerning the brain aluminum content of AD patients, and on the other hand, on the in vitro interactions of Al(III) with biolog ically relevant potential Al(III) binders occurring in intracellular a nd/or extracellular fluids. The biomolecules considered are such as am ino acids, organic and inorganic phosphates, nucleotides, catecholamin es and transferrin. It is quite clear from the results that definition of the actual Al(III) species present in the biological systems is es sentially important in any studies of the neurotoxic role of aluminum.