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Structural investigations of calcium and zinc binding in proteins
1Institute of Molecular and Structural Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Science Progress
|March 4, 2000
Abstract:
Metal ions are used in a variety of ways in our cells to regulate, activate, and stabilise specific protein molecules. In this review, we describe some of the regulatory functions of calcium and zinc that have been examined using X-ray crystallographic structural studies of specific proteins. These studies indicate that very precise control of cellular activity can be achieved by exploiting the specific physio-chemical properties of different metal ions.