Cu(II) cyclen cleavage agent for human islet amyloid peptide.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by a substantial reduction in beta-cell mass and the amyloid fibrils which are formed by the aggregation of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (h-IAPP) in the islet of Langerhans. Cleavage agents with Co(III) cyclen as the catalytic group have been studied as a novel therapeutic option for T2DM patients. However, recent research has suggested that the cytotoxicity of h-IAPP might be mediated by interactions with Cu(II); furthermore, it has been shown in vitro that Cu(II) prevents h-IAPP from forming the beta-sheet conformers. Therefore, we synthesized a cleavage agent using Cu(II) cyclen. The resulting cleaved fragments and estimated cleavage yield (8.3mol%) were evaluated after incubation with h-IAPP.