Structural and Catalytic Roles of Metal Ions in RNA

Astrid Sigel has studied languages and was an editor for the Metal Ions in Biological Systems series (until Volume 44) and also of the Handbooks on Toxicity of Inorganic Compounds (1988), on Metals in Clinical and Analytical Chemistry (1944; both with H G Seiler), and on Metalloproteins (2001; with Ivano Bertini) (Dekker, New York). Helmut Sigel is Emeritus Professor (2003) of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and a previous editor of the MIBS series until Volume 44. He serves on various editorial and advisory boards, published over 300 articles on metal ion complexes of nucleotides, coenzymes, and other ligands of biological relevance, and lectured worldwide. He was named Protagonist in Chemistry (2002) by ICA (issue 39); among further honours are the P. Ray Award (Indian Chemical Society, of which he is also an Honorary Fellow), the Werner Award (Swiss Chemical Society), a Doctor of Science honoris causa degree (Kalyani University, India), appointments as Visiting Professor (e.g. Austria, China, Japan, UK) and Endowed Lectureships. Roland K O Sigel is Assistant Professor (2003) of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, endowed with a Förderungsprofessur of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He received his doctoral degree summa cum laude (1999) from the University of Dortmund, Germany, working with Bernhard Lippert; thereafter he spent nearly three years at Columbia Unversity, New York, USA, in the group of Anna Marie Pyle (now Yale University); during the six years abroad he received several fellowships from various sources. His research focuses on the structural and catalytic role of metal ions in ribozymes, especially group II introns, and on related topics. He was also an editor of Volume 43 and 44 of the MIBS series.

Metal Ion Binding to RNA; Methods to Detect and Characterize Metal Ion Binding Sites in RNA; Importance of Diffuse Metal Ion Binding to RNA; RNA Quadruplexes; The Roles of Metal Ions in Regulation by Riboswitches; Metal Ions: Supporting Actors in the Playbook of Small Ribozymes; Metal Ions in Large Ribozymes; The Spliceosome and Its Metal Ions The Ribosome: A Molecular Machine Powered by RNA; Metal Ion Requirements in Artificial Ribozymes that Catalyze Aminoacylations and Redox Reactions; Metal Ion Binding and Function in Natural and Artificial Small RNA Enzymes from a Structural Perspective; Binding of Kinetically Inert Metal Ions to RNA: The Case of Platinum(II)