IDENTIFICATION OF INORGANIC ELEMENTS IN PROTEINS IN HUMAN SERUM AND IN DNA FRAGMENTS BY SIZE-EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY AND INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY WITH A MAGNETIC-SECTOR MASS-SPECTROMETER
J. Wang et al., IDENTIFICATION OF INORGANIC ELEMENTS IN PROTEINS IN HUMAN SERUM AND IN DNA FRAGMENTS BY SIZE-EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY AND INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY WITH A MAGNETIC-SECTOR MASS-SPECTROMETER, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 120(23), 1998, pp. 5793-5799
A general method to identify trace elements in biological molecules is
described. These measurements are made in only a few minutes without
preliminary isolation and preconcentration steps; Many unusual or diff
icult elements, such as Cr, Se, Cd, Th, and U, can be observed at ambi
ent levels bound to proteins in human serum. A new protein or family o
f proteins, that either contain Se or that bind Se molecules, is found
with molecular weight similar to 760 kDa. Binding of metal cations to
DNA restriction fragments can be studied by similar procedures both f
or essential elements such as Mn and Fe and toxic ones such as Cd and
Pb. In particular, trace Pb, Cd, and Co are completely bound to DNA fr
agments. Reduction of chromate to a cation (probably Cr3+) and subsequ
ent binding of the Cr cation to DNA is also demonstrated.