Spodium Bonds in Biological Systems: Expanding the Role of Zn in Protein Structure and Function.

Understanding the structural and functional implications of metal ions is of pivotal significance to chemical biology. Herein, we report first time the evidence of spodium bonds (SpB's, an attractive noncovalent force involving elements from group 12 and electron-rich species) in tetrahedral Zn-binding sites. Through a combined crystallographic (PDB analysis) and computational (ab initio calculations) study, we demonstrate that Zn SpB's are abundant and might be involved in protein structure and enzyme inhibition.