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| Title | Structural Insight Into a Human H Ferritin@Gold-Monocarbene Adduct: Aurophilicity Revealed in a Biological Context. |
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| Journal, issue, pages | Angew Chem Int Ed Engl, Vol. 64, Issue 30, Page e202503778, Year 2025 |
| Publish date | Jul 21, 2025 |
Authors | Lucrezia Cosottini / Andrea Giachetti / Annalisa Guerri / Ane Martinez-Castillo / Andrea Geri / Stefano Zineddu / Nicola G A Abrescia / Luigi Messori / Paola Turano / Antonio Rosato / ![]() |
| PubMed Abstract | Human H ferritin (HuHf) has excellent potential as a nanocarrier for the selective delivery of anticancer metal-based drugs to tumor cells. Here, we addressed the interaction of the gold monocarbene ...Human H ferritin (HuHf) has excellent potential as a nanocarrier for the selective delivery of anticancer metal-based drugs to tumor cells. Here, we addressed the interaction of the gold monocarbene compound Au(NHC)Cl with HuHf by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) measurements, which provide the metalation state of the protein subunits and demonstrate the involvement of protein cysteines in gold binding. The adduct between Au(NHC)Cl and HuHf was studied by cryo-EM measurements, resulting in a high-resolution 3D density map at 1.51 Å. The cryo-EM structure shows a novel tetranuclear gold(I) cluster, located in a surface pocket of each subunit where it is bound to Cys90 and Cys102. The short inter-metal distances are diagnostic of the occurrence of aurophilic interactions. The present work demonstrates the usefulness of cryo-EM to investigate the interactions between metal-based drugs and their protein targets/carriers, also leveraging the strong signal of transition metal ions. |
External links | Angew Chem Int Ed Engl / PubMed:40249912 / PubMed Central |
| Methods | EM (single particle) |
| Resolution | 1.51 Å |
| Structure data | EMDB-52339, PDB-9hq6: |
| Chemicals | ![]() ChemComp-BM0: ![]() ChemComp-AU: ![]() ChemComp-HOH: |
| Source |
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Keywords | METAL BINDING PROTEIN / Iron / Gold / Metal transport / Metal storage / Anticancer drugs / Drug nanocarrier |
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homo sapiens (human)
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