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The inorganic side of chemical biology

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Bioinorganic chemistry remains a vibrant discipline at the interface of chemistry and the biological sciences. Metal ions function in numerous metalloenzymes, are incorporated into pharmaceuticals and imaging agents, and inspire the synthesis of catalysts used to achieve many chemical transformations.

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Figure 1: A sampling of structurally characterized metal centers in proteins and nucleic acids.
Figure 2: Selection of metal compounds used in therapy and diagnosis of human disease.

Ann Thomson

Figure 3: Gadolinium-enhanced MRI of the renal arteries and kidneys of a person with a stenosis (narrowing) of the proximal left renal artery (arrow).
Figure 4: Structure of the complex formed between the iron protein and the iron-molybdenum (MoFe) protein of nitrogenase (PDB ID 1N2C; ref. 14).

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Acknowledgements

I thank C.E. Tinberg for assistance in preparing Figures 1 and 4, D.C. Nocera for the figure and caption supplied with Box 1 and P. Caravan (EpixPharma) and R. Guzman (St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Canada) for imagery in Figure 3.

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  1. the Department of Chemistry, Room 18-498, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 02139-4307, Massachusetts, USA

    Stephen J Lippard

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Lippard, S. The inorganic side of chemical biology. Nat Chem Biol 2, 504–507 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio1006-504

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