what do you think of?
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What do you think of?. Symbiosis, or the living together of different organisms, allows some species to live in otherwise hostile environments, so it can be a powerful mechanism of evolutionary change. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
What do you think of?
Symbiosis, or the living together of different organisms, allows some species to live in otherwise hostile environments, so it can be a powerful mechanism of evolutionary change.
And in every such case, the special role of certain inorganic elements is the key to the symbiosis.
Does it matter what we call it?
Are these really different?
Biological Inorganic Chemistry
Inorganic BiochemistryBioinorganic Chemistry
Metals in Biology
Bio inorganic Chemistry
A contradiction in terms?
Bio inorganic Chemistry
1. Not having the structure or organization of living bodies2. Not characterized by vital processes3. Not fundamental or related; extraneous 4. Pertaining to compounds that are not hydrocarbons5. Mineral
1. (Gr. “bios” ‘life, course or way of living’). In compounds formed in Greek itself, as biography; and in modernscientific words in which bio- is extended to mean ‘organic life.’2. A prefix meaning “life”
Bulk elements to form structure
Bulk elements to form structure
Bulk elements to form structureEssential elements for special functions
Bulk elements to form structureEssential elements for special functionsEssential elements for certain species
Bulk elements to form structureEssential elements for special functionsEssential elements for certain speciesElements used in medicine as therapeutics or diagnostics
OK,then whyare only3 metals shown?
a guess: it reflects history.
The first book Inorganic Biochemistry (1973) mainly concerned these metals:
Fe: hemes and heme enzymesheme = red
Cu in copper oxidases or the copper cyanin proteins:cerulocyanin cyanin from from Greek kuaneos
'dark blue'plastocyanin plasto: in chloroplasts hemocyanin hemo:stellacyanin stella: star (shape)azurin azure = bright blue from medieval
Latin azzurum, azolum
Zn in alkaline phosphatases
Mo in molybdoenzymes: key in nitrogen cycle
A blue copper protein called azurin, contains one copper atom
Plastocyanin crystals
Copper Oxidases fascinate with their blue colors
An engineered azurin variant that binds two Cu atoms. A short Cu-Cu distance causes intense purple color.
Who is in this field:
Synthetic Inorganic ChemistsSynthetic Organic Chemists
Biochemists Protein crystallographers
Physical Chemists Spectroscopists
Biologists Botanists GeneticistsGeologists
MDs Environmental scientists
The format of this course:
Lots of reading (text)Lots of discussion
Little lecturingLots of participation
What is graded:Occasional worksheets
One mid-termOne-final
One or more short presentations… and all your participation
Get to know the website
The course is also fairly paperless
My goals for you:
(1) become familiar with the breadth of bioinorganic
chemistry
(2) develop sufficient background to read the
literature or to research a particular
topic in bioinorganic chemistry
(3) know how the characteristics of metals
influence their roles in biology