Key Points: ELT is a powerful iron chelator, mobilizing iron and ferritin, reducing ROS, and restoring insulin production at clinically achievable levels. ELT enhances cellular iron chelation when combined with clinically available iron chelators through the shuttling of iron(III).

In order to search for a new method for the anti-browning of food products, a novel hydroxypyridinone (HPO) derivative with a formyl group was evaluated for its anti-tyrosinase property. This compound was found to exhibit potent tyrosinase inhibition on the monophenolase activity of mushroom tyrosinase with an IC₅₀ value of 1.33 μM, indicating that this HPO derivative was 12-fold stronger than kojic acid (IC₅₀ 15.89 μM). This molecule can inhibit tyrosinase via two action modes, namely copper reduction and chelation, and the formation of a Schiff’s base with the amino group at the active site of the enzyme. A synergistic effect of these two action modes to enhance the inhibitory activity was observed. This compound was also investigated for the inhibitory effect on diphenolase activity of mushroom; the inhibitory mechanism was found to be reversible and of competitive-uncompetitive mixed-type inhibition. This hydroxypyridinone was demonstrated to effectively control the browning of vegetable products.

Hepcidin is a peptide hormone that regulates the homeostasis of iron metabolism. The N-terminal domain of hepcidin is conserved amongst a range of species and is capable of binding Cu^II and Ni^II through the amino terminal copper–nickel binding motif (ATCUN). It has been suggested that the binding of copper to hepcidin may have biological relevance. In this study we have investigated the binding of Cu^II with model peptides containing the ATCUN motif, fluorescently labelled hepcidin and hepcidin using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. As with albumin, it was found that tetrapeptide models of hepcidin possessed a higher affinity for Cu^II than that of native hepcidin. The log K ₁ value of hepcidin for Cu^II was determined as 7.7. Cu^II binds to albumin more tightly than hepcidin (log K ₁ = 12) and in view of the serum concentration difference of albumin and hepcidin, the bulk of kinetically labile Cu^II present in blood will be bound to albumin. It is estimated that the concentration of Cu^II-hepcidin will be less than one femtomolar in normal serum and thus the binding of copper to hepcidin is unlikely to play a role in iron homeostasis. As with albumin, small tri and tetra peptides are poor models for the metal binding properties of hepcidin.