The field of de novo protein design, though only two decades old, has already reached the point where designing and selecting novel proteins that are functionally active has been achieved several times. Here we review recently reported de novo functional proteins that were developed using various approaches, including rational design, computational optimization, and selection from combinatorial...

Class B beta-lactamases or metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) require zinc ions to catalyse the hydrolysis of beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and cephamycins. There are no clinically useful inhibitors against MBLs which are responsible for the resistance of some bacteria to antibiotics. There are two metal-ion binding sites that have different zinc ligands ...

A simple ion imprinted amino-functionalized sorbent was synthesized by coupling activated carbon with iminodiacetic acid, a functional compound for metal chelating, through cyanoric chloride spacer. The resulting sorbent has been characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and evaluated for the preconcentration and de...

This paper reports the evaluation of adsorbing Cr (VI) ions on sorbent prepared from chitosan (CHT), a versatile derivative of chitin, and dodecyl amine modified locally available kaolinite clay (Bijoypur clay) (MC) that has excellent mechanical properties and great resistance to chemical and biological attack. The effect of the initial metal ion concentration, solution pH, contact time, and ad...

We retrospectively analysed concentrations of chromium and cobalt ions in samples of synovial fluid and whole blood taken from a group of 92 patients with failed current-generation metal-on-metal hip replacements. We applied acid oxidative digestion to our trace metal analysis protocol, which found significantly higher levels of metal ion concentrations in blood and synovial fluid than a non-di...

Calcium hydroxyapatite (HAp) is the main inorganic component of natural bones. In this review, the crystal structure and fabrication methods of HAp were first introduced; then the synthesis and applications of metal-ion-doped HAp nanoparticles were mainly reviewed. HAp was usually synthesized through solid state reaction and wet chemical precipitation, of which the properties depended on the fa...

Partly due to lack of detailed knowledge of the molecular recognition of ligands the structural basis for partial versus full agonism is not known. In the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor the agonist binding site has previously been structurally and functionally exchanged with an activating metal-ion site located between AspIII:08-or a His residue introduced at this position in transmembrane domain ...

Background: Combination of glycation and oxidation is associated with diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of glycated proteins in presence of transition metal ions on production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in rat hepatocyte suspension.  Methods: Glycated albumin was prepared by incubation of bovine serum albumin with 100 mM glucose in 0.3 M phosphate buffer a...

Background. Increased metal ion levels following total hip arthroplasty (THA) with metal-on-metal bearings are a highly debated topic. Local soft tissue reactions with chronic pain and systemic side effects such as neuropathy are described. The aim of the current study was to determine the serum metal ion concentrations of Cobalt (Co) and Chrome (Cr) after THA with a ceramic-on-metal (CoM) bear...