SELECT ANY METAL BINDING COMPLEX

Metal ions perform a wide variety of specific functions associated with life processes. They are involved in stabilizing the structure of folded proteins.Metal containing proteins play a key role in the biosynthesis and metabolism of a number of bioactive peptides and have been implicated in a variety of disease states such as cancer, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Regardless of the metal and its precise pattern of ligation to the protein, there is a common qualitative feature to the binding site: the metal is ligated by a shell of hydrophilic atomic groups (containing oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur atoms) and this hydrophilic shell is embedded within a larger shell of hydrophobic atomic groups (containing carbon atoms).