This is a Reading guide to the Review article Transition Metal Speciation in the Cell: Insights from the Chemistry of Metal Ion Receptors Lydia A. Finney, et al. Science 300, 931 (2003);
DOI: 10.1126/science.1085049.
There are three ways to modulate the redox potential of a metalloenzyme: Changing ligands, changing geometry, and changing solvent. When I introduce this topic in Bioinorganic, I try to give my students concrete examples of each. I love this one because it applies what they learned in Gen Chem about the Nernst Equation to a biological problem. Granted, I don't use a metalloenzyme as my example, but I do pull the biological chemistry into it at the end, by referrring to the cytochrome oxidase/O2 couple.
I use this introductory exercise at the beginning (the very first thing) of my one semester topics course in Bioinorganic Chemistry and as the first exercise in my Bioinorganic unit in my senior level Inorganic Course. The exercise is a very simple one, but generates a lot of great discussion, requiring students to access knowledge from prior chemistry and biology courses, as well s common knowledge from sources external to their academic career. Students are often surprised to see how much they know before a topic is covered.
This is an in class exercise that I use to introduce structure and magnetism to a junior/senior level course on bioinorganic chemistry. The class is cross-listed between Chemistry and Biochemistry. All of the students have had general chemistry and organic (with some exposure to MO Theory). Many of the students have also had the sophomore-level inorganic course, which delves extensively into MO theory, and some of the the students have also had the senior-level course on transition metal chemistry which looks deeply at d-orbital splitting.
This appears to be an excellent introductory text for bioinorganic chemistry. The authors assume no previous biochemistry knowledge and only a cursory understanding of concepts in inorganic chemistry is required. Any student who has completed general chemistry should find most of the book readily accessible.
Biological Inorganic Chemistry: Structure & Reactivity edited by Bertini, Gray, Stiefel, and Valentine was published by University Science Books (copyright 2007). It is a detailed text divided into 2 parts. Part A gives "Overviews of Biological Inorganic Chemistry" while Part B goes into more specifics of "Metal Ion Containing Biological Systems." Several prominent bioinorganic chemists have contributed chapters to the book in their various areas of expertise.
This learning object was developed collaboratively by members of the IONiC Leadership Council. The overall goal is to provide a general overview of metals in biological systems and introduce students to several of the important ideas in the field of bioinorganic chemistry. Topics include toxic metals, metals used in biological systems and the overlap of these categories; issues associated with the uptake, transport and storage of metal ions; and the benefits gained by using metals in biological molecules.
I read about these new biology examples for intro chem in a recent Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Washington Wire (December 2009, Issue II). Professor Catherine Drennan from MIT and her colleagues introduced "examples of biological and medical topics that demonstrate chemistry principles into her introductory chemistry lectures to highlight the connection between the fields of biology and medicine, that students often love, and chemistry." Their assessment showed that the examples increased student satisfaction with the course.