Croat. Chem. Acta 71 (1998) 659-672.

ISSN-0011-1643
CCA-2518

Conference Paper

Structural Studies on the Interactions between Metal Ions and Biological Macromolecules

Pierluigi Orioli

Department of Chemistry, University of Florence,
Via Capponi 7, 50121 Florence, Italy
(e-mail: orioli@risc.lrm.fi.cnr.it)

Received February 3, 1998;   revised July 13, 1998;   accepted July 15, 1998

The essential role of metal ions in biology is stressed by structural investigations on two metalloenzymes: human carbonic anhydrase (CA) and Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD). The X-ray structure of CA complex with histamine affords a satisfactory explanation of the mechanism of activation of CA. The high resolution (1.02 A) crystal structure of a mutant monomeric Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase gives relevant information on the mechanism of the catalytic activity of the native dimeric enzyme and on the reduced activity of the monomer.