Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Chemistry, Bioinorganic”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Invited award contribution for ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry. Geometric and electronic structure contributions to function in bioinorganic chemistry: active sites in non-heme iron enzymes.

Spectroscopy has played a major role in the definition of structure/function correlations in bioinorganic chemistry. The importance of spectroscopy combined with electronic structure calculations is clearly demonstrated by the non-heme iron enzymes. Many members of this large class of enzymes activate dioxygen using a ferrous active site that has generally been difficult to study with most spectroscopic methods. A new spectroscopic methodology has been developed utilizing variable temperature, variable field magnetic circular dichroism, which enables one to obtain detailed insight into the geometric and electronic structure of the non-heme ferrous active site and probe its reaction mechanism on a molecular level. This spectroscopic methodology is presented and applied to a number of key mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes leading to a general mechanistic strategy for O2 activation. These studies are then extended to consider the new features present in the binuclear non-heme iron enzymes and applied to understand (1) the mechanism of the two electron/coupled proton transfer to dioxygen binding to a single iron center in hemerythrin and (2) structure/function correlations over the oxygen-activating enzymes stearoyl-ACP Delta9-desaturase, ribonucleotide reductase, and methane monooxygenase. Electronic structure/reactivity correlations for O2 activation by non-heme relative to heme iron enzymes will also be developed.

Animals↗

The bioinorganic chemistry of iron in oxygenases and supramolecular assemblies.

The bioinorganic chemistry of iron is central to life processes. Organisms must recruit iron from their environment, control iron storage and trafficking within cells, assemble the complex, iron-containing redox cofactors of metalloproteins, and manage a myriad of biochemical transformations by those enzymes. The coordination chemistry and the variable oxidation states of iron provide the essential mechanistic machinery of this metabolism. Our current understanding of several aspects of the chemistry of iron in biology are discussed with an emphasis on the oxygen activation and transfer reactions mediated by heme and nonheme iron proteins and the interactions of amphiphilic iron siderophores with lipid membranes.

Chemistry, Bioinorganic↗

Bioinorganic chemistry in the postgenomic era.

Genome sequencing has revolutionized all fields of life sciences. Bioinorganic chemistry is certainly not immune to this influence, which is presenting unprecedented challenges. A new goal for bioinorganic chemistry is the investigation of the linkages between inorganic elements and genomic information. This requires new advancements andor the development of new expertise in fields such as bioinformatics and genetics but also provides a driving force to push forward the exploitation of traditional analytical techniques and spectroscopic tools. The "case study" of metal homeostasis in cells is discussed to provide a flavor of the current evolution of the field.

Base Sequence↗

Metal-thiolate bonds in bioinorganic chemistry.

Metal-thiolate active sites play major roles in bioinorganic chemistry. The M--S(thiolate) bonds can be very covalent, and involve different orbital interactions. Spectroscopic features of these active sites (intense, low-energy charge transfer transitions) reflect the high covalency of the M--S(thiolate) bonds. The energy of the metal-thiolate bond is fairly insensitive to its ionic/covalent and pi/sigma nature as increasing M--S covalency reduces the charge distribution, hence the ionic term, and these contributions can compensate. Thus, trends observed in stability constants (i.e., the Irving-Williams series) mostly reflect the dominantly ionic contribution to bonding of the innocent ligand being replaced by the thiolate. Due to high effective nuclear charges of the Cu(II) and Fe(III) ions, the cupric- and ferric-thiolate bonds are very covalent, with the former having strong pi and the latter having more sigma character. For the blue copper site, the high pi covalency couples the metal ion into the protein for rapid directional long range electron transfer. For rubredoxins, because the redox active molecular orbital is pi in nature, electron transfer tends to be more localized in the vicinity of the active site. Although the energy of hydrogen bonding of the protein environment to the thiolate ligands tends to be fairly small, H-bonding can significantly affect the covalency of the metal-thiolate bond and contribute to redox tuning by the protein environment.

Chemistry, Bioinorganic↗

Examples of high-frequency EPR studies in bioinorganic chemistry.

Low-temperature EPR spectroscopy with frequencies between 95 and 345 GHz and magnetic fields up to 12 T has been used to study metal sites in proteins or inorganic complexes and free radicals. The high-field EPR method was used to resolve g-value anisotropy by separating it from overlapping hyperfine couplings. The presence of hydrogen bonding interactions to the tyrosyl radical oxygens in ribonucleotide reductases were detected. At 285 GHz the g-value anisotropy from the rhombic type 2 Cu(II) signal in the enzyme laccase has its g-value anisotropy clearly resolved from slightly different overlapping axial species. Simple metal site systems with S>1/2 undergo a zero-field splitting, which can be described by the spin Hamiltonian. From high-frequency EPR, the D values that are small compared to the frequency (high-field limit) can be determined directly by measuring the distance of the outermost signal to the center of the spectrum, which corresponds to (2 S-1)* mid R: Dmid R: For example, D values of 0.8 and 0.3 cm(-1) are observed for S=5/2 Fe(III)-EDTA and transferrin, respectively. When D values are larger compared to the frequency and in the case of half-integer spin systems, they can be obtained from the frequency dependence of the shifts of g(eff), as observed for myoglobin in the presence ( D=5 cm(-1)) or absence ( D=9.5 cm(-1)) of fluoride. The 285 and 345 GHz spectra of the Fe(II)-NO-EDTA complex show that it is best described as a S=3/2 system with D=11.5 cm(-1), E=0.1 cm(-1), and g(x)= g(y)= g(z)=2.0. Finally, the effects of HF-EPR on X-band EPR silent states and weak magnetic interactions are demonstrated.

Animals↗

Aspects of the bioinorganic chemistry of silicon in conjunction with the biometals calcium, iron and aluminium.

Silicon, in its various forms (silicic acid (Si(OH)4) through to hydrated amorphous silica (SiOn(OH)4-2n, n = 2-4) is important in geological and biological processes. Silicon is considered to be an 'essential' element for some plants and higher animals and when present as silica imparts structural, defensive and photosynthetic advantages to many plants. For the majority of essential elements specific molecular binding sites have been identified, but this is not the case for silicon. This has lead to the proposal that silicon may not act directly on biological systems but may exert its influence via interactions with biometals. Metals for which this may be a viable option include aluminium, iron and calcium, all of which can be found co-located with silicon in both minerals and living organisms. This article briefly reviews the pertinent solution and solid state chemistry of silicon in relation to aluminium, iron and calcium. Examples where silicon and an additional metal are found in solid state phases are described. The biological systems where these deposits are found are extremely complex and preliminary results from a model system designed to study silicon-biometal interactions are described.

Aluminum↗

Formation of iron-sulfur clusters in bacteria: an emerging field in bioinorganic chemistry.

Biological iron-sulfur clusters are chemically versatile inorganic structures that are attached to many proteins. These clusters are intimately involved in the functions of their partner proteins and they are required to sustain life on earth. Recent work has demonstrated that, in spite of their simple structures, the assembly and insertion of iron-sulfur clusters into their protein partners is a complex biological process. This complexity is probably related to the cellular toxicity of iron and sulfur in their free forms.

Bacteria↗

Spectroscopic methods in bioinorganic chemistry: blue to green to red copper sites.

A wide variety of spectroscopic methods are now available that provide complimentary insights into the electronic structures of transition-metal complexes. Combined with calculations, these define key bonding interactions, enable the evaluation of reaction coordinates, and determine the origins of unique spectroscopic features/electronic structures that can activate metal centers for catalysis. This presentation will summarize the contributions of a range of spectroscopic methods combined with calculations in elucidating the electronic structure of an active site using the blue copper site as an example. The contribution of electronic structure to electron-transfer reactivity will be considered in terms of anisotropic covalency, electron-transfer pathways, reorganization energy, and protein contributions to the geometric and electronic structures of blue-copper-related active sites.

Binding Sites↗

Biological inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry of neurodegeneration based on prion and Alzheimer diseases.

A change of the prion protein conformation results in a class of neurodegenerative diseases called the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (like mad cow and Creutzfeld-Jakob diseases). The function of the normal prion protein is unknown, although much of recent research demonstrates the it may be a copper binding protein selective for Cu(II). Amyloid precursor protein (APP) releases the 39-42 amino acid peptide, a major constituent of the deposit in plaques of Alzheimer disease brain. Also APP is a metal binding protein, including copper ions. The link between copper and both proteins may provide insight into the role of metals in neurodegenerative pathologies.

Alzheimer Disease↗