Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 132 (2014) 1
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jinorgbio
Preface for the JIB Special Issue on Latin American Bioinorganic Chemistry In this special edition of the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, thirteen articles give continuation to the celebration of Latin American strength in the field of Bioinorganic Chemistry. Several of these articles contain studies discussed during the XVI Brazilian Meeting of Inorganic Chemistry/III Latin American Meeting on Bioinorganic Chemistry (LABIC) held in 2012 in Florianopolis, Brazil, along with other independent studies. Together, the work of leading groups from Argentina (1 article), Brazil (5 articles), Chile (1 article) and Puerto Rico (1 article), along with 5 contributions from Canadian, Swedish, and US groups with close ties to Latin American science complete this issue. All of them celebrate the creativity and diversity of bioinorganic chemistry in Latin America! This diversity will be made obvious by topics ranging from biomodeling and chemical interactions, to mechanistic studies and medicinal applications. Biomimetic and bioinspired chemistry is well represented by the contributions of Farrell et al. (Virginia Commonwealth University) on the modulation of stacking interactions of platinum, palladium, and gold complexes with tryptophan, Nordlander et al. (Lunds Universitet) on a dinuclear unsymmetric zinc complex to model phosphotriesterase, and Vila et al. (Universidad Nacional de Rosario) on redox-state sensing by hydrogen bonds in the cytochrome c oxidase. Medicinal inorganic chemistry is emphasized by the work of Deflon et al. (Universidade de São Paulo) which discusses the use of manganese thiosemicarbazones as anti-tuberculosis agents, Demicheli et al. (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) which investigates tin complexes with potential antileishmanial activities, Lanznaster et al. (Universidade Federal de Niterói) with a closer look at the viability of cobalt naphthoquinone complexes as bioreductive prodrugs, and Noleto et al. (Universidade Federal do Paraná) which reports on the leishmanicidal activity of oxovanadium galactomannan complexes. Orvig et al. (University of British Columbia) contribute to an evaluation
0162-0134/$ – see front matter © 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2014.01.017
of the antiosteoporotic activity of rare earth curcuminoids, as well as, with the cytotoxicity of copper, zinc and iron pyridiones. Cellular targets are investigated by the groups of Melendez (Universidad de Puerto Rico-Mayagüez) with the cytotoxicity of molybdenocene complexes towards ubiquitin, and Pereira-Maia (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) on DNA interactions & cytotoxic activity of copper complexes. Uribe et al. (Universidad de Concepción) focus on the inhibitory action of a zinc-finger motif in an agmatinase-like protein, and Verani et al. (Wayne State University) investigate the inhibition of the 26S proteasome as secondary mechanisms for complexes of toxic ions such as aluminum, lead, and mercury. Starting with Columbus' “discovery”, Latin American lands were always abundant with metals. In the 18th century about 1000 tons of gold were transferred to Europe from the Portuguese colonies alone. Most of this gold ended up in England and fueled the burgeoning capitalism. In the 19th century, a wave of independence came and in the 20th century the nascent Latin American countries — inspired by their North American peer — rid themselves of decaying monarchic houses and sought industrialization with different levels of success. In the 21st century, knowledge is gold, and Latin America increasingly sees its path to prosperity through education and research in the sciences and technology. Training and international collaborations are critical components of this path. This special edition of JIB, surveying the status of the art in bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry, is a living testament that outstanding world-class research is happening right now all over the former colonies, and is having a global influence. Enjoy! Nicholas Farrell, Ademir Neves, Maria Vargas & Claudio Verani, Guest Editors
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jinorgbio
Preface for the JIB Special Issue on Latin American Bioinorganic Chemistry In this special edition of the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, thirteen articles give continuation to the celebration of Latin American strength in the field of Bioinorganic Chemistry. Several of these articles contain studies discussed during the XVI Brazilian Meeting of Inorganic Chemistry/III Latin American Meeting on Bioinorganic Chemistry (LABIC) held in 2012 in Florianopolis, Brazil, along with other independent studies. Together, the work of leading groups from Argentina (1 article), Brazil (5 articles), Chile (1 article) and Puerto Rico (1 article), along with 5 contributions from Canadian, Swedish, and US groups with close ties to Latin American science complete this issue. All of them celebrate the creativity and diversity of bioinorganic chemistry in Latin America! This diversity will be made obvious by topics ranging from biomodeling and chemical interactions, to mechanistic studies and medicinal applications. Biomimetic and bioinspired chemistry is well represented by the contributions of Farrell et al. (Virginia Commonwealth University) on the modulation of stacking interactions of platinum, palladium, and gold complexes with tryptophan, Nordlander et al. (Lunds Universitet) on a dinuclear unsymmetric zinc complex to model phosphotriesterase, and Vila et al. (Universidad Nacional de Rosario) on redox-state sensing by hydrogen bonds in the cytochrome c oxidase. Medicinal inorganic chemistry is emphasized by the work of Deflon et al. (Universidade de São Paulo) which discusses the use of manganese thiosemicarbazones as anti-tuberculosis agents, Demicheli et al. (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) which investigates tin complexes with potential antileishmanial activities, Lanznaster et al. (Universidade Federal de Niterói) with a closer look at the viability of cobalt naphthoquinone complexes as bioreductive prodrugs, and Noleto et al. (Universidade Federal do Paraná) which reports on the leishmanicidal activity of oxovanadium galactomannan complexes. Orvig et al. (University of British Columbia) contribute to an evaluation
0162-0134/$ – see front matter © 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2014.01.017
of the antiosteoporotic activity of rare earth curcuminoids, as well as, with the cytotoxicity of copper, zinc and iron pyridiones. Cellular targets are investigated by the groups of Melendez (Universidad de Puerto Rico-Mayagüez) with the cytotoxicity of molybdenocene complexes towards ubiquitin, and Pereira-Maia (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) on DNA interactions & cytotoxic activity of copper complexes. Uribe et al. (Universidad de Concepción) focus on the inhibitory action of a zinc-finger motif in an agmatinase-like protein, and Verani et al. (Wayne State University) investigate the inhibition of the 26S proteasome as secondary mechanisms for complexes of toxic ions such as aluminum, lead, and mercury. Starting with Columbus' “discovery”, Latin American lands were always abundant with metals. In the 18th century about 1000 tons of gold were transferred to Europe from the Portuguese colonies alone. Most of this gold ended up in England and fueled the burgeoning capitalism. In the 19th century, a wave of independence came and in the 20th century the nascent Latin American countries — inspired by their North American peer — rid themselves of decaying monarchic houses and sought industrialization with different levels of success. In the 21st century, knowledge is gold, and Latin America increasingly sees its path to prosperity through education and research in the sciences and technology. Training and international collaborations are critical components of this path. This special edition of JIB, surveying the status of the art in bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry, is a living testament that outstanding world-class research is happening right now all over the former colonies, and is having a global influence. Enjoy! Nicholas Farrell, Ademir Neves, Maria Vargas & Claudio Verani, Guest Editors
