Metallomics:An integrated biometal science

摘要

Metallomics is an emerging scientific area integrating the research fields related to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of metal-associated life processes and the entirety of metal and metalloid species within a cell or tissue type. In metallomics,metalloproteins,metalloenzymes and other metal-containing biomolecules in a biological system are referred to as metallomes,similar to genomes and proteomes in genomics and proteomics,respectively. This review discusses the concept of metallomics with a focus on analytical techniques and methods,particularly the so-called hyphenated techniques which combine a high-resolution separation technique (gel electrophoresis/laser ablation,chromatography or capillary electrophoresis) with a highly sensitive detection method such as elemental (inductively coupled plasma,ICP) or molecular (electron spray ionization (ESI) or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)) mass spectrometry,or nuclear X-ray fluorescence/absorption spectrometry. The applications of these advanced analytical methods in the identification of metallo-/phospho-/seleno-proteins,probing of relationships between structure and function of metal-loproteins,and study of clinically used metallodrugs will be selectively outlined,along with their advantages and limitations.