Bioinorganic chemistry studies how metal ions interact with living tissue, including their role in enzyme activity. Metal ions are essential for many biological functions, such as energy transfer and oxygen transport. Different metals perform specific functions, but an overabundance can be toxic. Metal ions are also being studied in pharmaceutical research.
Bioinorganic chemistry is a branch of inorganic chemistry primarily involving research into how metal ions interact with living tissue, primarily through their direct effect on enzyme activity. An estimated third of the enzymes and proteins in the human body rely on metal ions to function properly in several key ways. These biological areas use proteins with metal ions present to transfer energy via electrons, to transport oxygen, and for nitrogen metabolism. Hydrogenase is also affected by metal ions in the body, which is a microorganism-based enzyme responsible for the transfer of hydrogen, as well as alkyltransferases, which are enzymes responsible for transferring alkyl chemical groups between molecules. There are over a dozen metals involved in such processes, including zinc, iron and manganese, with vitamin-based metal elements also playing important roles in such activity such as potassium and calcium.
Each group of metal ions performs a select range of functions in bioinorganic chemistry. Both sodium and potassium act as electron charge carriers and maintain a charge balance across permeable membranes. Magnesium, calcium and zinc play structural roles at the cellular level and magnesium and zinc in particular can catalyze the hydrolysis process in which compounds are broken down in an aqueous solution. Metal ions like molybdenum act as a nitrogen fixer while iron and copper help in oxygen transport. While these are all important functions in the body, the principles of bioinorganic chemistry only require metal ion trace elements such as manganese, lithium, and molybdenum to perform these types of functions, and an overabundance of them can be toxic and even lethal.
In many cases, biochemistry for animals involves cooperative efforts with the bacteria present in the body. Bioinorganic chemistry relies on this symbiotic relationship with examples such as the metal ions vanadium and molybdenum, as they help nitrogen-fixing bacteria function in the body or hydrogenase-based organisms that transport hydrogen. While many of these metals are introduced into the body from the diet or are present in bacteria, some also exist as components of metalloproteins, which are protein molecules with naturally attached metal ionic structures.
In addition to the natural physiological activity of metal ions in bioinorganic chemistry, they are also being studied in pharmaceutical research. The association of metal ions with drugs can allow them to be metabolized more easily by the body. This diversity of functions for metal ions results in their study by a range of natural sciences working in inorganic chemistry from environmental chemistry to toxicology and specialized fields such as enzymology.
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