Dancing with metals: Iron copper and reactive sparks

"Sola dosis facit venenum" or "the dose makes the poison." This timeless adage holds particularly true in the realm of metals and oxidants, where the delicate balance between sufficiency and excess is paramount. Inadequate levels render an organism incapable of proper functioning, while excessive quantities can inflict irreversible harm. However, at the precise dosage, a harmonious symphony resonates within cellular systems.

While iron and copper play crucial roles in the functioning of numerous cellular proteins, excessive amounts can trigger the cell death mechanisms of ferroptosis and cuproptosis, respectively. Although oxidation is essential for vital cellular processes such as protein folding and signal transduction, excessive oxidation can harm cellular components, leading to cell death. How does a cell effectively regulate the availability of these factors and mitigate their toxic effects?

This compelling question will be addressed at our symposium. Esteemed investigators in the fields of iron, copper and redox biology will cover topics that include organellar redox metabolism and vulnerabilities, mechanisms of metal-induced cell death and metal stress, as well as metal acquisition and dependencies.

Keywords: Copper, iron, redox, metals, reactive oxygen species.

Who should attend: Metalheads and redox biologists, along with individuals keen on delving into the realms of iron, copper and selenium and the intricacies of oxidative stress.

Theme song: “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. No explanation necessary.

This session is powered by the Fenton reaction. 

Redox and metals in biology

Advances in redox homeostasis in biology and disease

Kivanç  Birsoy, Rockefeller University

Jessica Spinelli, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Urbain Weyemi (chair), National Cancer Institute

Elena Piskounova, Weill Cornell Medicine

Iron in redox biology: mechanisms and regulation

Adam Hughes, University of Utah

James Wohlschlegel, UCLA

Sarah-Maria Fendt, VIB–KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology

Gina DeNicola (chair), Moffitt Cancer Center

Copper in redox biology: From fundamental chemistry to cellular function

Katherine Franz, Duke University

Peter Tsvetkov, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Deborah Fass, Weizmann Institute of Science

Siavash Kurdistani (chair), UCLA