From the Preface
Although it has been suspected since ancient times that metals participate in biological processes, details of the manner in which they might exert a function have until recently remained unknown. It is now appreciated that metals play roles in catalysis, hormone action, gene and other regulatory functions, structural stabilization of macromolecules, muscle contraction, nerve conduction, and transport. "Metallobiochemistry" is a field which has grown and matured rapidly over the past decade. Metalloenzymes have been the central investigating targets. This volume provides...

This book provides up-to-date, state-of-the-art methods for the purification of metallothionein and related proteins, for the study of metal binding, for the quantitation of metallothionein, and for the study of the physical and biological properties of metallothionein. New views of the structure and function of metallothionein are also included in some chapters.

This volume of Methods in Enzymology and its companion Volume 226 present spectroscopic and physical methods for the determination of metal ion environments in metalloproteins and metalloenzymes.