Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609-2280, United States.
Biochemistry. 2012 Sep 18;51(37):7212-24. doi: 10.1021/bi3001769. Epub 2012 Sep 5.
Metal ions have well-established catalytic and structural roles in proteins. Much of the knowledge acquired about metalloenzymes has been derived using spectroscopic techniques and X-ray crystallography, but these methodologies are less effective for studying metal ions that are not tightly bound to biomacromolecules. In order to prevent deleterious chemistry, cells tightly regulate the uptake, distribution, and intracellular concentrations of metal ions. Investigation into these homeostasis mechanisms has necessitated the development of alternative ways to study metal ions. Photochemical tools such as small molecule and protein-based fluorescent sensors as well as photocaged complexes have provided insight into the homeostasis and signaling mechanisms of Ca(2+), Zn(2+), and Cu(+), but a comprehensive picture of metal ions in biology will require additional development of these techniques, which are reviewed in this Current Topics article.
金属离子在蛋白质中具有明确的催化和结构作用。人们对金属酶的了解主要来自于光谱技术和 X 射线晶体学，但这些方法对于研究与生物大分子结合不紧密的金属离子效果较差。为了防止有害的化学反应，细胞严格控制金属离子的摄取、分布和细胞内浓度。对这些动态平衡机制的研究需要开发替代方法来研究金属离子。光化学工具，如小分子和基于蛋白质的荧光传感器以及光笼复合物，为 Ca(2+)、Zn(2+)和 Cu(+)的动态平衡和信号转导机制提供了深入了解，但要全面了解金属离子在生物学中的作用，还需要进一步开发这些技术，本文对这些技术进行了综述。
