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Dr. Lim, Carmay

Emeritus Research Fellow
  • +886-2-2789-9043 (Lab) (Room No: N117)
  • +886-2-2652-3031 (Office)
  • +886-2-2788-7641 (Fax)

Specialty:
  • Computational Biophysics
  • Computational Chemistry
  • Bioinformatics

Education and Positions:
  • 1984, Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

    1979, B.S. in Chemistry, Royal Holloway College, London University

     


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How First Shell–Second Shell Interactions and Metal Substitution Modulate Protein Function

Dr. Lim, Carmay
Inorganic Chemistry, Jun 15, 2018

Hydrogen bonds to metal–ligands in proteins play a vital role in biological function. They help to stabilize/protect the metal complex and enhance metal-binding affinity/specificity, enzyme–substrate recognition, and enzyme activation. Yet, knowledge of the preferred hydrogen-bonding partners of metal ligands in different metalloproteins is lacking. Using well-calibrated methods, we have determined the preferred hydrogen-bonding partners of Cys bound to native Zn2+ or xenobiotic Cd2+ in Zn-fingers of varying net charge and solvent accessibility as well as the key factors underlying the observed preference. We show how secondary hydrogen-bonding interactions with metal-bound thiolates might exert a significant impact on Zn2+→Cd2+ substitution and thus protein function. Knowing which Zn-fingers may be vulnerable to structural deformation by Cd2+ is important since this would lead to their inactivation, which might impair cell growth, differentiation, cell-cycle control, and DNA repair.