scholarly journals An Appraisal of the Field of Metallomics and the Roles of Metal Ions in Biochemistry and Cell Signaling

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 10846
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Maret
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Metal Ions ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Manufacturing Processes ◽  
Essential Metals ◽  
Essential Metal ◽  
Functional Consequences

Humans require about 20 chemical elements. Half of them are essential metal ions. Many additional, non-essential metal ions are present in our bodies through environmental exposures, including in our diet, with functional consequences. Their accumulation is accelerated due to the increasing pollution of soil, air, water and manufacturing processes that employ chemical elements to which we have not been exposed in our evolutionary history. Yet other metal ions are essential for other forms of life, which calls on life scientists to consider the interactions of life processes with most of the chemical elements in the periodic table. Only in this century have attempts been made to integrate specialty disciplines into a science of bioelements called metallomics. Metallomics forms a fifth group when added to the traditional four building blocks of living cells and their areas of investigations, i.e., sugars (glycomics), fats (lipidomics), proteins (proteomics) and nucleic acids (genomics). Neither an understanding of all the essential metals and their interactions nor the functional impacts of the non-essential metals for life, except established toxic elements such as lead, are widely perceived as important in the basic science communities and in the applied sciences such as medicine and engineering. It is a remarkable oversight that this article attempts to address with representative examples.

scholarly journals Homoeostasis and distribution of essential metals in cells: Principles and molecular mechanisms

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 4-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Blindauer
Keyword(s):  
Metal Ions ◽  
Metal Ion ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Genetic Diseases ◽  
Pernicious Anaemia ◽  
Acrodermatitis Enteropathica ◽  
Essential Metals ◽  
Essential Metal ◽  
Parkinson’S Diseases ◽  
Multicellular Organisms

It has long been recognized that all organisms have a requirement for a range of metal ions, serving a variety of purposes (Table 1)1. The consequences of deficiency for each of these metal ions are grave; however, even essential metal ions are demonstrably toxic at elevated concentrations2. Therefore both unicellular and multicellular organisms have developed sophisticated mechanisms to regulate the intracellular concentrations and distribution of essential metal ions. The importance of such mechanisms is illustrated by the severity of genetic diseases related to metal mishandling, which include thalassaemias (iron overload), pernicious anaemia (diminished cobalt absorption), Wilson's and Menkes' diseases (copper mis-distribution), and acrodermatitis enteropathica (congenital zinc deficiency)3, with several of these diseases being fatal if untreated. It is also thought that impaired metal ion homoeostasis is a hallmark of aging4, and several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are also intimately linked to misbalanced metal distribution5.

Metal Toxicity and Speciation: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Peana ◽  
Alessio Pelucelli ◽  
Serenella Medici ◽  
Rosita Cappai ◽  
Valeria Marina Nurchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metal Ions ◽  
Toxic Metals ◽  
Toxic Metal ◽  
Cellular Damage ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Essential Metals ◽  
Essential Metal ◽  
Toxic Metal Ions ◽  
Cellular Targets ◽  
Hard Structures

Background : Essential metal ions play a specific and fundamental role in human metabolism. Their homeostasis is finely tuned and any concentration imbalance in form of deficiency or excess could lead to a progressive reduction and failure of normal biological function, to severe physiological and clinical outcomes till death. Conversely, non-essential metals are not necessary for life and only noxious effects could arise after their exposure. Large environmental amounts of such chemicals come from both natural and anthropogenic sources, with the latter being predominant because of human activities. The dissipation of toxic metals contaminates water, air, soil, and food, causing a series of chronic and acute syndromes. Objective : This review discusses the toxicity of non-essential metals considering their peculiar chemical characteristics such as different forms, hard-soft character, oxidation states, binding capabilities and solubility, which can influence their speciation in biological systems, and subsequently, the main cellular targets. Particular focus is given to selected toxic metals, major non-essential metals or semimetals related to toxicity such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel and arsenic. In addition, we provide indications on the possible treatments/interventions on metal poisoning based on chelation therapy. Conclusion: Toxic metal ions can exert their peculiar harmful effects in several ways. They strongly coordinate to important biological molecules on the basis of their chemical-physical characteristics (manly HSAB properties) or replace essential metal ions from their natural locations in proteins, enzymes or in hard structures such as bones or teeth. Metals with redox properties could be key inducers of reactive oxygen species, leading to oxidative stress and cellular damage. Therapeutic detoxification, through complexation of toxic metal ions by specific chelating agents, appears an efficacious clinical strategy mainly in acute cases of metal intoxication.

A Highly Crystalline Anthracene-Based MOF-74 Series Featuring Electrical Conductivity and Luminescence

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Scheurle ◽  
Andre Mähringer ◽  
Andreas Jakowetz ◽  
Pouya Hosseini ◽  
Alexander Richter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Metal Ions ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Block Design ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Visible Spectrum ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Divalent Metal Ions ◽  
Conductivity Enhancement ◽  
Surface Areas

Recently, a small group of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been discovered featuring substantial charge transport properties and electrical conductivity, hence promising to broaden the scope of potential MOF applications in fields such as batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors. In combination with light emission, electroactive MOFs are intriguing candidates for chemical sensing and optoelectronic applications. Here, we incorporated anthracene-based building blocks into the MOF-74 topology with five different divalent metal ions, that is, Zn2+, Mg2+, Ni2+, Co2+ and Mn2+, resulting in a series of highly crystalline MOFs, coined ANMOF-74(M). This series of MOFs features substantial photoluminescence, with ANMOF-74(Zn) emitting across the whole visible spectrum. The materials moreover combine this photoluminescence with high surface areas and electrical conductivity. Compared to the original MOF-74 materials constructed from 2,5-dihydroxy terephthalic acid and the same metal ions Zn2+, Mg2+, Ni2+, Co2+ and Mn2+, we observed a conductivity enhancement of up to six orders of magnitude. Our results point towards the importance of building block design and the careful choice of the embedded MOF topology for obtaining materials with desired properties such as photoluminescence and electrical conductivity.

ESSENTIAL METAL CONTENTS IN THE LIVER OF DTPA-TREATED PREGNANT MICE AND THEIR FETUSES

1997 ◽  
Vol 07 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 25-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. SATO ◽  
N. MATSUSAKA ◽  
T. SUZUKI ◽  
H. KOBAYASHI ◽  
K. SERA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fetal Liver ◽  
Manganese Content ◽  
Zinc Content ◽  
Essential Metals ◽  
Detectable Amount ◽  
Essential Metal ◽  
Final Injection ◽  
Maternal Liver ◽  
Metal Contents ◽  
Pregnant Mice

Ca -DTPA or Zn -DTPA was injected subcutaneously to pregnant mice once a day for 5 consecutive days from the 13th day to the 17th day of gestation. Maternal and fetal livers were collected 20 hours after the final injection of DTPA, and essential metal contents in the liver samples were determined by PIXE. Both Ca -DTPA and Zn -DTPA don't affect any essential metals in the maternal liver, but Ca -DTPA decreases copper and zinc contents in the fetal liver to 2/3 and 1/2 of the control values, respectively. Although Zn -DTPA does not affect fetal zinc content, it decreases that of copper. It could not be determined whether DTPA affects fetal manganese content or not because the fetal liver contains no detectable amount of manganese.

scholarly journals Periodic dependences in the distribution of chemical elements in the human hair ash residue

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (1II)) ◽  
pp. 73-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. I. Otmakhov ◽  
Yu. S. Sarkisov ◽  
A. N. Pavlova ◽  
A. V. Obukhova
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Human Hair ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Biogenic Elements ◽  
Human Organism ◽  
Individual Character ◽  
Periodic Law ◽  
Ash Residue ◽  
First Time ◽  
Time Periodic

150 years ago D. I. Mendeleev revealed the Periodic law to the world and since that time periodic dependencies have been increasingly used in various fields of basic and applied sciences. For the first time we consider the regularities of periodic dependences of the concentration of chemical elements in the ash residue of human hair on the number of the element. Such dependencies for various regions of Russia reveal strictly individual character. It is shown that distributions of the chemical elements for men and women also differ, as well as the distributions determined for the same groups in inhabitants of different regions of residence and depend to a significant extent on the genetic and physiological characteristics of human organism, variability of environmental conditions, earlier diseases and other impacts. This means that population of different urban regions (e.g., Siberian region) is characterized by a strictly individual distribution of biogenic elements. A hypothesis has been put forward that extrema observed on the studied dependences can be a kind of code for a given locality, reflecting correlation with various factors of genetic and ecological nature.

scholarly journals DETECTION OF BIOACTIVE FRACTIONS OF JUSTICIA ADHATODA L. LEAVES

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 388
Author(s):  
Faiza Rasheed ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Metal Ions ◽  
Dietary Fiber ◽  
Total Alkaloid ◽  
Antioxidant Activities ◽  
Phytochemical Analysis ◽  
Leaf Extracts ◽  
Essential Metal ◽  
Justicia Adhatoda

In vitro antibacterial and antioxidant activities of various leaf extracts of Justicia adhatoda L. (locally known as Bhaikar) were assessed. The leaves were also subjected to various phytochemical analysis. Results revealed that leaves of J. adhatoda L. contain significant amount of total alkaloid, phenols flavonoid, saponins, tannins , protein, crude oil, dietary fiber, essential and non essential metal ions. The methanol, ethanol, butanol, chloroform and n-hexane leaf extracts of J

scholarly journals Prebiotic Chemical Refugia: Multifaceted Scenario for the Formation of Biomolecules in Primitive Earth

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Prosdocimi ◽  
Savio Torres Farias ◽  
Marco V José
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Biological Molecules ◽  
Critical Problem ◽  
Primitive Earth ◽  
Prebiotic Chemical ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Earth ◽  
Stanley Miller ◽  
Periodic Changes

The origin of life was a cosmic event happened on primitive Earth. A critical problem to better understand the origins of life in Earth is to glimpse in which chemical scenarios the basic building blocks of biological molecules could be produced. Classic works in pre-biotic chemistry frequently considered early Earth as a homogeneous atmosphere constituted by chemical elements such as methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), water (H2O), hydrogen (H2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Under that scenario, Stanley Miller was capable to produce amino acids and solved the question about the origin of proteins. Conversely, the origin of nucleic acids has tricked scientists for decades as nucleotides are complex though necessary molecules to allow the existence of life. Here we review possible chemical scenarios that allowed not only the formation of nucleotides but also other significant biomolecules. We aim to provide a theoretical solution for the origin of biomolecules at specific sites named “Prebiotic Chemical Refugia”. A prebiotic chemical refugium should therefore be understood as a geographic site in prebiotic Earth on which certain chemical elements were accumulated in higher proportion than expected, facilitating the production of basic biomolecules. Plus, this higher proportion should not be understood as static, but dynamic; once the physicochemical conditions of our planet changed periodically. This different concentration of elements, together with geochemical and astronomical changes along days, synodic months and years provided somewhat periodic changes in temperature, pressure, electromagnetic fields, and conditions of humidity; among other features. Recent and classic works suggesting most likely prebiotic refugia on which the main building blocks of biological molecules might be accumulated are reviewed and discussed.

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