Methionine residues and iron-sulphur (FeS) clusters are primary targets of reactive oxygen species in the proteins of micro-organisms. Here, we show that methionine redox modifications help to preserve essential FeS cluster activities in yeast. Mutants defective for the highly conserved methionine sulphoxide reductases (MSRs; which re-reduce oxidized methionines) are sensitive to many pro-oxida...

Herein we describe the synthesis, structural and magnetic characterisation of three transition metal cluster complexes that feature the polytopic ligand N-(2-pyridyl)-3-carboxypropanamide (H2L): [Fe3(III)Fe2(II)(HL)6(O)(H2O)3][ClO4]5·3MeCN·4H2O, 1, [Co8(HL)8(O)(OH)4(MeOH)3(H2O)]-[ClO4]3·5MeOH·2H2O, 2, and [Cu6(L(ox))4(MeOH)(H2O)3]·MeOH, 3. Complex 1 is a mixed valence penta-nuclear iron cluster...

Tire dust is a significant pollutant, especially as a source of zinc in the urban environment. This study characterizes the morphology and chemical composition of heavy metal particles embedded in tire dust and traffic-related materials (brake dust, yellow paint, and tire tread) as measured by a field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (F...

Drosophila melanogaster MTF-1 (dMTF-1) is a copper-responsive transcriptional activator that mediates resistance to Cu, as well as Zn and Cd. Here, we characterize a novel cysteine-rich domain which is crucial for sensing excess intracellular copper by dMTF-1. Transgenic flies expressing mutant dMTF-1 containing alanine substitutions of two, four or six cysteine residues within the sequence (54...

The reaction of Cu(Hm-dtc)2 (H2m-dtc is azepane-1-carbodi-thioic acid), CuBr2 and methyl iso-thio-cyanate yielded the title mixed-valence nona-nuclear Cu(I)/Cu(II) compound, [Cu9Br5(C7H12NS2)5] or [Cu(I) 8Cu(II)Br5(Hm-dtc)5], encapsulating a bromide anion in the center of the Cu9Br4S10 cluster cage. The cage consists of a mononuclear Cu(II) unit [Cu(Hm-dtc)2], three μ4-bridging Hm-dtc(-) ligand...

Neuronal growth inhibitory factor (GIF), a metallothionein-like protein (metallothionein-3), impairs the survival and neurite formation of cultured neurons. Native GIF contains 4 Cu(I) and three Zn(II) ions organized in homometallic metal-thiolate clusters. However, the cluster localization is not known. In this study, the metal-thiolate clusters formed with monovalent and divalent metal ions i...

Analysis of rodent brains with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscopy combined with immunohistochemistry allowed us to demonstrate that local Cu concentrations are thousands of times higher in the glia of the subventricular zone (SVZ) than in other cells. Using XRF microscopy with subcellular resolution and intracellular X-ray absorption spectroscopy we determined the copper (I) oxidation state an...