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Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Quantification of Metal Leaching in Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography
Published on: January 17, 2020
IonoBiology: The functional dynamics of the intracellular metallome, with lessons from bacteria
Leticia Galera-Laporta1, Colin J Comerci1, Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo2
1Molecular Biology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Abstract:
Metal ions are essential for life and represent the second most abundant constituent (after water) of any living cell. While the biological importance of inorganic ions has been appreciated for over a century, we are far from a comprehensive understanding of the functional roles that ions play in cells and organisms. In particular, recent advances are challenging the traditional view that cells maintain constant levels of ion concentrations (ion homeostasis). In fact, the ionic composition (metallome) of cells appears to be purposefully dynamic. The scientific journey that started over 60 years ago with the seminal work by Hodgkin and Huxley on action potentials in neurons is far from reaching its end. New evidence is uncovering how changes in ionic composition regulate unexpected cellular functions and physiology, especially in bacteria, thereby hinting at the evolutionary origins of the dynamic metallome. It is an exciting time for this field of biology, which we discuss and refer to here as IonoBiology.
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