CY6102 : Advanced Bioinorganic Chemistry

Essential and trace metal ions in biology and their distribution, thermodynamic and kinetic factors for the presence of selected metal ions; bioligands- amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids, nucleotides and their potential metal- binding sites; special ligands – porphyrins, chlorin and corrin.

Enzymes- Nomenclature and classification, chemical kinetics, the free energy of activation and the effects of catalysts kinetics of enzyme catalyzed reactions-Michaelis-Menten constant- effect of pH, temperature on enzyme reactions, factors contributing to the catalytic efficiency of enzymes.

O₂ binding and activation by heme, non-heme and copper proteins – MMO & RNR, tyrosinase; DβM, PHM, Cytochrome c oxidase.

Iron transport and storage proteins in bacterial and mammalian systems – siderophores, transferrin, ferritin.

Electron transport proteins – redox properties, organic- redox protein cofactors – FAD, NAD, FMN, ubiquinone; blue copper proteins, cytochromes, iron- sulfur proteins – rubredoxin, ferridoxins, HIPIP; electron transport chain (ETC) in respiration, nitrogen-fixation and photosynthesis.

Nitrogen-cycle enzymes: Mo in N, and S-metabolism by Mo-pterin cofactors and Mo-Fe-cofactors. NOx reductases, sulfite oxidase, xanthine oxidase, nitrogenase, P and

M- clusters in nitrogenase, transition-metal-dinitrogen complexes and insights into N₂ binding, reduction to ammonia.

Mn in photosynthesis and O₂ evolution: Photosystem I and II – chlorophyll, oxygen evolving complex (OEC), 4Mn-cluster and O₂ evolution.

Non-redox enzymes with Mg, Zn, Ni: urease, peptidases and phosphatases and their structure and function. Carbonic anhydrase and carboxy peptidase.

Applied bioinorganic chem–metals in medicine, anti-cancer agents–cisplatin, radiopharmaceuticals (Tc), diagnostic (Gd in MRI) and therapeutic agents. Toxicity of Hg, Cd, Pb and As and chelation therapy.

Text Books:

1. Principle of Bioinorganic chemistry – Lippard and Berg, Univ. Science Books, 1994.
2. Biocoordination chemistry – Fenton, Oxford chemistry primer, 1995.
3. Bioinorganic chemistry: Inorganic perspective in the chemistry of Life, Kaim and Schwederski, 1994.
4. Inorganic chemistry – Shriver, Atkins, and Langford, 1994.
5. Bioinorganic Chemistry – Bertini, Gray, Lippard and Valentine Viva books Pvt. Ltd. 1998.