Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2025

High-Resolution Neutron Spectroscopy to Study Picosecond-Nanosecond Dynamics of Proteins and Hydration Water
Published on: April 28, 2022
Non-Covalent and Covalent Binding of New Mixed-Valence Cage-like Polyoxidovanadate Clusters to Lysozyme
Gabriella Tito1, Giarita Ferraro1, Federico Pisanu2
1Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cintia, I-80126, Napoli, Italy.
Abstract:
The high-resolution X-ray structures of the model protein lysozyme in the presence of the potential drug [VIVO(acetylacetonato)2] from crystals grown in 1.1 M NaCl, 0.1 M sodium acetate at pH 4.0 reveal the binding to the protein of different and unexpected mixed-valence cage-like polyoxidovanadates (POVs): [V15O36(OH2)]5-, which non-covalently interacts with the lysozyme surface, [V15O33(OH2)]+ and [V20O51(OH2)]n- (this latter based on an unusual {V18O43} cage) which covalently bind the protein. EPR spectroscopy confirms the partial oxidation of VIV to VV and the formation of mixed-valence species. The results indicate that the interaction with proteins can stabilize the structure of unexpected - both for dimension and architecture - POVs, not observed in aqueous solution.
Related Concept Videos
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Ligand Binding Sites
Protein-ligand interactions are quite specific; even though numerous potential ligands surround a cellular protein at any given time, only a particular ligand can bind to that protein. Moreover, a ligand binds only to a dedicated area on the surface of the protein, known as the...
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
Ligand Binding and Linkage
Complexometric Titration: Ligands
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions

