Abstract

The past few years have witnessed dramatic progress on all frontiers of zinc neurobiology. The recent development of powerful tools, including zinc-sensitive fluorescent probes, selective chelators and genetically modified animal models, has brought a deeper understanding of the roles of this cation as a crucial intra- and intercellular signalling ion of the CNS, and hence of the neurophysiological importance of zinc-dependent pathways and the injurious effects of zinc dyshomeostasis. The development of some innovative therapeutic strategies is aimed at controlling and preventing the damaging effects of this cation in neurological conditions such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease.

Author affiliations

1. Department of Basic and Applied Medical Science; Molecular Neurology Unit, CeSI-Center for Excellence on Aging, University 'G. dAnnunzio', Chieti, 66013, Italy.
   Email: ssensi@uci.edu
2. Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, 92697-4292 California, USA.
3. Laboratoire de Neurobiologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France.
   Email: paoletti@biologie.ens.fr
4. The Mental Health Research Institute, 155 Oak Street, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.
   Email: bush@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
5. Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
6. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, POB 653, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
   Email: sekler@bgu.ac.il

Published online 14 October 2009

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