2010 IRON-SULFUR ENZYMES GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE, JUNE 6-11, 2010
Iron-sulfur (FeS) centers are essential for biology and inspirational in chemistry. These protein cofactors are broadly defined as active sites in which Fe is coordinated by S-donor ligands, often in combination with extra non-protein components, for example, additional metal atoms such as Mo and Ni, and soft ligands such as CN{sup -} and CO. Iron-sulfur centers are inherently air sensitive: they are found in essentially all organisms and it is possible that they were integral components of the earliest forms of life, well before oxygen (O{sub 2}) appeared. Proteins containing FeS cofactors perform a variety of biological functions ranging across electron transfer, acid-base catalysis, and sensing where they are agents for cell regulation through transcription (DNA) or translation (RNA). They are redox catalysts for radical-based reactions and the activation of H{sub 2}, N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2}, processes that offer scientific and economic challenges for industry. Iron-sulfur centers provide the focus for fundamental investigations of chemical bonding, spectroscopy and paramagnetism, and their functions have numerous implications for health and medicine and applications for technology, including renewable energy. The 2010 Iron-Sulfur Enzymes GRC will bring together researchers from different disciplines for in-depth discussions and presentations of the latest developments. There will be sessions on structural and functional analogues of FeS centers, advances in physical methods, roles of FeS centers in energy and technology, catalysis (including radical-based rearrangements and the activation of nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon), long-range electron transfer, FeS centers in health and disease, cellular regulation, cofactor assembly, their relevance in industry, and experiments and hypotheses relating to the origins of life.