Nature Communications (Dec 2017)

Fine control of metal concentrations is necessary for cells to discern zinc from cobalt

  • Deenah Osman,
  • Andrew W. Foster,
  • Junjun Chen,
  • Kotryna Svedaite,
  • Jonathan W. Steed,
  • Elena Lurie-Luke,
  • Thomas G. Huggins,
  • Nigel J. Robinson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02085-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Bacteria possess transcription factors whose DNA-binding activity is altered upon binding to specific metals, but the binding of metals is not specific in vitro. Here, Osman et al. show that tight regulation of buffered intracellular metal concentrations is a prerequisite for metal specificity.