Transition Metal Complexes as Therapeutics: A New Frontier in Combatting Neurodegenerative Disorders through Protein Aggregation Modulation

Neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) are a class of debilitating diseases that progressively impair the protein structure and result in neurological dysfunction in the nervous system. Among these disorders, Alzheimer's disease (AD), prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), and Parkinson's disease (PD) are caused by protein misfolding and aggregation at the cellular level. In recent years, transition metal complexes have gained significant attention for their potential applications in diagnosing, imaging, and curing these NDDs. These complexes have intriguing possibilities as therapeutics due to their diverse ligand systems and chemical properties and can interact with biological systems with minimal detrimental effects. This review focuses on the recent progress in transition metal therapeutics as a new era of hope in the battle against AD, CJD, and PD by modulating protein aggregation in vitro and in vivo. It may shed revolutionary insights into unlocking new opportunities for researchers to develop metal-based drugs to combat NDDs.