Prof. Antonello Merlino
Title: Interaction between proteins and metal-based drugs: a structural perspective.
When: 15:00 CET, Friday, June 30th, 2023.
Place: Sala de Grados, Module 8, Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM).
Speaker: Prof. Antonello Merlino, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.
The interaction with proteins plays a crucial role in uptake, transport, storage, toxicity and mechanism of action of metallodrugs. Recently, details of interaction between several biological macromolecules and metal-based drugs are being revealed structurally. Crystallography experiments have been complemented with spectroscopic/spectrometric and computational methods. Selected examples of recent structural studies disclosing details of the protein metalation process by Pt, Au, Ru, Rh and V compounds with proteins will be presented. The structural analysis allows to obtain crucial information to understand in more depth the molecular mechanisms at the basis of biological activity of the analyzed metal compounds and of the recognition by their specific biomolecular targets.