Thermodynamics of Metal-Protein Interactions

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该研究奖在无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目中支持达特茅斯学院的Dean Wilcox教授开展金属离子与蛋白质结合的基础研究。这项研究为生物体对必需金属的吸收、运输和输送，以及有毒金属的隔离和出口提供了新的见解。利用量热计测量金属离子与蛋白质结合时释放或吸收的热量，研究人员量化了金属和蛋白质对能量相关因素的相对贡献，这些因素决定了金属-蛋白质复合物的稳定性。在许多情况下，两种或两种以上的金属以异常高的稳定性与同一蛋白质结合，这可能是储存必需金属或隔离有毒金属的基础。这项研究不仅使人们对金属-蛋白质相互作用有了基本的化学认识，而且为下一代生物无机化学家和生物化学家提供了重要的培训。此外，本研究将开发和传播金属量热测量方案，这是准确量化涉及金属离子的化学反应热力学所需要的。这项关于生物体用来管理必需金属（如铜、锌、铁）和处理有毒金属（如镉、汞、砷）的化学研究的结果将为评估自然和人为来源的金属对环境的影响提供有价值的信息。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Research award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports work by Professor Dean Wilcox at Dartmouth College to carry out fundamental studies of metal ions binding to proteins. The research provides new insight about the uptake, transport and delivery of essential metals, as well as the sequestering and export of toxic metals, by living organisms. Using calorimeters to measure the heat that is released or absorbed when metal ions bind to proteins, the investigators quantify the relative metal and protein contributions to the energy-related factors that determine the stability of metal-protein complexes. In many cases two or more metals bind to the same protein with an unusually high stability that may be fundamental to the storage of essential metals or to the sequestering of toxic metals. Not only is this research leading to fundamental chemical insight about metal-protein interactions but it is providing important training for students who will be the next generation of bioinorganic chemists and biochemists. In addition, this research will develop and disseminate the protocols for calorimetry measurements with metals, which are needed to accurately quantify the thermodynamics of chemical reactions involving metal ions. Results from this research on the chemistry that living organisms use to manage essential metals (e.g., copper, zinc, iron) and deal with toxic metals (e.g., cadmium, mercury, arsenic) will provide valuable information for assessing the environmental impact of metals from natural and man-made sources.