Metal Transport in Cells: Molecular Mechanisms and Functions
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 948
Special Issue Editor
2. Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy
Interests: iron–sulfur cluster; mitochondrial proteins; iron-sulfur proteins biogenesis; spectroscopy; NMR spectroscopy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Metals are essential elements required by organisms from any kingdom of life to assist in a variety of crucial cellular processes. Metals can be present as simple metal ions or as more complex polynuclear cofactors and play structural or chemical roles in proteins’ physiological functions, such as respiration, electron transfer, neurotransmission, photosynthesis, cell signaling, and apoptosis. On the other hand, a surplus of metals can be toxic for cells. Organisms have therefore developed efficient transport and homeostasis cellular systems, composed of complex protein machineries that tightly control the import and the trafficking of metal ions in the cell through very selective protein–protein interactions, at the same time assuring sufficient metal supply for correct cellular function and avoiding overloading cells with metal ions or the presence of free metal ions, thus preventing oxidative damaging and metal misplacement or aspecific binding to proteins. Perturbations of processes of metals homeostasis or trafficking often lead to pathological states.
A detailed description of the molecules involved in these complex pathways, of their metal binding mode, and of their interaction patterns is extremely important to gain a complete molecular-level understanding of the processes within the cellular context, to understand the molecular basis of diseases, and to design possible pharmacological strategies.
In this Special Issue, we wish to make the subject of metal homeostasis and trafficking in cells accessible to a broad audience, and we welcome the submission of original research papers, short communications, and review articles uncovering multiple aspects of metal transport in cells, from coordination chemistry to the techniques required for the biochemical characterization of metal-binding proteins, along with the mechanisms of cofactors assembly and distribution in cells and the molecular basis of the related diseases.
Dr. Francesca Camponeschi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- metalloproteins
- metal cofactors
- cell signaling
- metal ion trafficking
- protein–protein interaction
- electron transport
- molecular chaperones
