Metallothioneins and neurodegenerative diseases

A symposium on the clinical aspects of metallothioneins (MTs) in neurodegenerative diseases was held at the 2003 Society of Metallothionein Meeting in Gifu, Japan. The objectives of the symposium were to review and speculate on the potential roles of MTs, especially MT-3 in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD). Dr. Uchida discussed the controversial problem regarding the expression of MT-3 in AD brains. Dr. Asanuma addressed the function of MTs in the progression of PD and Dr. Hozumi described the therapeutic potential of MTs for ALS, while Dr. Yamada provided immunohistochemical findings of MT-3 in SCD for the first time. Although there are still controversial problems on MTs, this review provides proof that MTs are promising potential therapeutic targets for therapy for some neurodegenerative diseases.