Editors
Valeria Culotta, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD,USA
Robert A. Scott, University of Georgia, Athens, GA,USA
The last half–century has seen an explosive growth in ourunderstanding of the role of inorganic elements in biology,focusing first on biochemical function of proteins with tightlybound metals. As a result, many structures and functions ofbiomolecules with metals have been characterized. In parallel, theunderstanding of inorganic elements in medicinal chemistry and thedevelopment of metal–containing drugs has developed.
This research led inevitably to an interest in how Natureincorporates inorganic elements into metalloproteins and how cells manage their inorganic portfolio, acquiring the right amount of each element in the right locationwithout making mistakes, while avoiding toxicity. More recentresearch efforts have focused on this understanding of inorganiccell biology. Significant advances have been prompted by acombination of new methods to probe intracellular metal locationsand the dynamics of metal movement in cells, high–resolutiondetection of metal–biomolecule interactions, and the revolution ofgenomic, proteomic, metabolic, and even metallomic approaches to the study of inorganic physiology. Environmentalmetals and metalloids, including iron, copper, zinc, cobalt,manganese, molybdenum, and selenium, are all accumulated by cellsand organisms in the micro– to millimolar range. Yet despite thisabundant sea of diverse metals, only the correct metal cofactor ismatched with a partner metalloprotein mistakes in metal ionbiology rarely occur. At the same time, free metal ions can bedetrimental to cellular components and processes, so systems haveevolved to carefully control trace element concentrations andlocations (homeostasis).
This book covers recent advances made by top researchers in thefield of metals in cells [the metallome ] andincludes: regulated metal ion uptake and trafficking, sensing ofmetals within cells and across tissues, and identification of thevast cellular factors designed to orchestrate assembly of metalcofactor sites while minimizing toxic side reactions of metals. Inaddition, it features aspects of metals in disease, including therole of metals in neurodegeneration, liver disease, and
inflammation, as a way to highlight the detrimental effects ofmishandling of metal trafficking and response to foreign metals. This book is an important addition tothe bioinorganic literature and relates new discoveries in systemsbiology and toxicology to new results in bioinorganicchemistry.
About EIBC Books
The Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry (EIBC) wascreated as an online reference in 2012 by merging the Encyclopediaof Inorganic Chemistry and the Handbook of Metalloproteins. Theresulting combination proves to be the defining reference work inthe field of inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry, and a lot ofchemistry libraries around the world have access to the onlineversion. Many readers, however, prefer to have more concisethematic volumes in print, targeted to their specific area ofinterest. This feedback from EIBC readers has encouraged theEditors to plan a series of EIBC Books [formerly called EIC Books],focusing on topics of current interest. EIBC Books will appear on aregular basis, will be edited by the EIBC Editors and specialistGuest Editors, and will feature articles from leading scholars intheir fields. EIBC Books aim to provide both the starting researchstudent and the confirmed research worker with a criticaldistillation of the leading concepts in inorganic and bioinorganicchemistry, and provide a structured entry into the fieldscovered.
