Relevance of the ability of fructose 1,6-bis(phosphate) to sequester ferrous but not ferric ions Original Research Article

The cytoprotective activity of F16BP has been documented in severe conditions such as convulsions, reperfusion injury, septic shock, diabetic complications, hypothermia-induced injury, UV-provoked skin damage and in other processes including apoptosis and excitotoxicity. F16BP shows very efficient cytoprotective activity in astroglial cells exposed to H2O2-provoked oxidative stress and during neuronal injury caused by hypoxic conditions. As most of the aforementioned processes involve iron activity-related conditions, we investigated the ferric and ferrous iron binding properties of F16BP under physiological conditions using 31P NMR and EPR spectroscopy. Our results indicate that cytoprotective F16BP activity is predominantly based on ferrous iron sequestration. 31P NMR spectroscopy of F16BP employing paramagnetic properties of iron clearly showed that F16BP forms stabile complexes with Fe2+ which was verified by EPR of another divalent cation—Mn2+. On the other hand, F16BP does not sequester ferric iron nor does it increase its redox activity as shown by 31P NMR and EPR spin-trapping. Therefore, F16BP may be beneficial in neurodegenerative and other conditions that are characterised by ferric iron stores and deposits.