ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION During their evolution, life forms based on carbon have come to exploit the chemical complexity made available by the rest of the periodic table. Proteins containing metals play important roles in energy transduction and information transfer in the cell. How do these metalloproteins assemble themselves into working structures? Are the principles of metalloprotein folding different from those governing the folding of their completely organic relatives? In this chapter we will highlight some lessons that have been learned by combining theoretical and experimental studies to elucidate the mechanisms of metalloprotein folding.