NEWS LETTER 31 of the Programme CHEMISTRY OF METALS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS of the European Science Foundation (Strasbourg)

P L E A S E N O T E:

This is YOUR Newsletter! Contributions are invited.

All material intended for the next Newsletter should be submitted to:

Professor C David Garner (University of Manchester) via Email: ESF-Chem-Metal-Biol@Manchester.ac.uk

Newsletters are scheduled for the end of January, March, May, July, September and November.

The deadline for material to be included in the next Newsletter is 15 March, 1996.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This programme was initiated by the European Science Foundation in November 1990 and has run for 5 years, i.e. from 1991 through 1995. The programme is intended to strengthen the interaction of bioinorganic chemists and to facilitate collaborations between European scientists involved in this field. We are seeking an extension of this programme for the years 1996 and 1997.

At present the following countries are members of the European Science Foundation located in Strasbourg:

AUSTRIA BELGIUM DENMARK FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY GREECE HUNGARY ICELAND IRELAND ITALY NETHERLANDS NORWAY POLAND PORTUGAL SPAIN SWEDEN SWITZERLAND TURKEY UNITED KINGDOM

More countries are expected to join this organisation within the next few years.

The 'Steering Committee' of the programme has the following members:

Ivano Bertini, University of Florence (I) Robert R Crichton, Universite Catholique de Louvain (B) Sture Forsen, University of Lund (S) C David Garner, Chairman, University of Manchester (UK) Carlos Gomez-Moreno, University of Zaragoza (SP) Francisco Gonzalez-Vilchez, University of Sevilla (SP) Helmut Sigel, University of Basel (CH) Imre Sovago, Kossuth University, Debrecen (H) Alfred Trautwein, Medical University of Luebeck (FRG) Jens Ulstrup, Vice-Chairman, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby (DK) Cees Veeger, Agricultural University of Wageningen (NL) Raymond Weiss, Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg (F) Antonio Xavier, Centro de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica, Oeiras (P)

Responsible ESF-Secretary:

Dr Annette Wiklund European Science Foundation 1 Quai Lezay-Marnesia F-67080 Strasbourg France Tel: +33 88 767 100 Fax: +33 88 370 532

We welcome Annette Wiklund as our new Secretary and gratefully acknowledge the valuable assistance provided by Neils Peterson during his term as Secretary.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Summaries of recent research news and/or relevant comments (of up to 1 page) which will be of general interest to the 'bioinorganic' community, may be submitted by any colleague. Please send your contributions via E-mail to Dave Garner (details on the front sheet).

(1) * * * NEWS * * * NEWS * * * NEWS * * * NEWS * * *

(i) SOCIETY OF BIOLOGICAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY (SBIC)

JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY (JBIC)

We are pleased to announce the formation of the

Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SBIC)

SBIC is a learned society, established to advance research and education in the field of Biological Inorganic Chemistry

SBIC will undertake various initiatives, including:

1 The launch of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (JBIC) with Professor Ivano Bertini as the Chief Editor. The Journal will be published by Springer commencing with six issues in 1996. This is a very important venture for us; SBIC owns the copyright of JBIC

and we are determined to achieve a high quality and high ranking journal. Membership of SBIC entitles you to receive JBIC at no extra charge.

2 The promotion of training courses, workshops, conferences and other activities to facilitate the exchange of scientific information between scientists involved in the research and teaching of Biological Inorganic Chemistry.

3 Enhancing both the popular and academic understanding and awareness of the significance of Biological Inorganic Chemistry.

We invite you to join SBIC as appropriate:

Member - Subscription for 1996; £65 (pounds sterling) or £48 (pounds sterling) if retired or otherwise not receiving a regular salary

Student Member - If you are registered for a degree and not receiving a regular salary, subscription for 1996: £48 (pounds sterling)

Student Associate - Students who wish to receive SBIC news (but not JBIC) and to be entitled to discounts at events sponsored by SBIC, subscription for 1996: £10 (pounds sterling)

Alternatively, a subscription to a personal copy of JBIC entitles you to membership of SBIC. Subscription for 1996: £65 (pounds sterling) or £48 (pounds sterling) if a student or if retired.

Application forms are available from:

Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry c/o Professor C D Garner Chemistry Department University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PL UK

Tel: +44 (0)161 275 4653 Fax: +44 (0)161 275 4616 Email: Dave.Garner@Manchester.ac.uk

JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

A Publication of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry

Biological Inorganic Chemistry is a field of science which embraces the principles of Biology and Inorganic Chemistry and which has grown tremendously in recent years. This field has important implications for many other sciences, ranging from medicine to the environment. Furthermore, studies of the roles of metal ions in biological systems often involve the development of relevant chemistry, new methodologies of investigation and the application of advanced physical techniques.

The Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (JBIC) will seek to promote this field internationally. This new journal will be primarily concerned with advances in the understanding of systems involving one or more metal ions set in a biological matrix - particularly, metalloproteins and metal- nucleic acid complexes - in order to understand biological function at the molecular level. Manuscripts describing high quality and original research concerned with metal ions or other "inorganic" species and having biological relevance are invited for submission to this journal. Mini-reviews and commentaries are also accepted.

MANUSCRIPTS ARE INVITED FOR JBIC AND CAN BE SUBMITTED TO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Chief Editor:

Professor Ivano Bertini Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via G Capponi, 50121 Florence ITALY Email: bertini@risc1.lrm.fi.cnr.it

Associate Editors:

Professor Marc Fontecave Professor Wilfred R Hagen Lab d'Etudes Dynamiques de la Structure Department of Biochemistry Universite J. Fourier Wageningen Agricultural Univ. 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9 6703 HA Wageningen FRANCE The Netherlands Email: steph@Ledss.grenet.fr Email: Fred.Hagen@EPR.BC.WAU.NL

Professor Robert A Scott Professor Yukio Sugiura Center for Metalloenzyme Studies Institute for Chemical Research University of Georgia Kyoto University Athens Kyoto Japan GA 30602-2556 USA Email: sugiura@scl.Kyoto-u.ac.j Email: scott@bscr.uga.edu

Professor Thomas D Tullius The Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemistry Baltimore USA Email: tom@radical.chm.jhu.edu

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS FOR MANUSCRIPTS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.

JBIC

INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

URL ON THE

WORLD WIDE WEB

http://science.springer.de

CLICK: "ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTS TO PRINTED JOURNALS"

The first issue of JBIC will be published in February 1996.

Contents:

Presentation of the Journal by the Chief Editor "To be or not to be"

Minireview

J-M Moulis, V Davasse, M-P Golinelli, J Meyer and I Quinkal. "The coordination sphere of iron-sulfur clusters: lessons from site-directed mutagenesis experiments."

Articles

I Zaitseva, V Zaitsev, G Card, G Moshkov, B Bax, A Ralph and P Lindley. "The nature of the copper centres in human cerulplasmin."

H-T Tsang, C J Batie, D P Ballou and J E Penner-Hahn. "Structural characterisation of the mononuclear iron site in Pseudomonas cepacia phthalate DB01 dioxygenase using X-ray absorption spectroscopy."

R O Louro, T Catarino, C Salgueiro, J LeGall and A V Xavier. "Redox-Bohr effect in the tetrahaem cytochrome c3 from Desulfovibrio vulgaris: a model for energy transduction mechanisms."

J M Aramini, T Hiraoki, M Yazawa, T Yuan, M Zhang and H J Vogel. "Lead-207 NMR: a novel probe for the study of calcium-binding proteins."

A Treffry, C Hawkins, J M Williams, J R Guest, and P M Harrison. "Lability of iron at the dinuclear centres of ferritin studied by competition with four chelators."

H Pappa, W R Patterson and T L Poulos. "The homologous tryptophan critical for cytochrome c peroxidase function is not essential for ascorbate peroxidase activity."

F Bonomi, D M Kurtz Jr and X Cui. "Ferroxidase activity of recombinant Desulfovibrio vulgaris rubrerythrin."

J Custot, J-L Boucher, S Vadon, C Guedes, S Dijols, M Delaforge and D Mansuy. "Nw-Hydroxyamino- alpha-aminoacids as a new class of very strong inhibitors of arginases."

T Ohyama and J A Cowan. "An approach to the evaluation of RNA solution structure and metal coordination chemistry by titration calorimetry."

(2) * * * CONFERENCE NEWS * * *

'Conference News' (ca. 1 page in length) may be provided by organisers or their scientific secretaries. For Meetings and Workshops supported by ESF the submission of such a report is obligatory. To facilitate the distribution of this information, please forward these reports to Dave Garner via E-mail.

* * * PROSPECTIVE MEETINGS * * *

(i) The Office of European Research Conferences (EURESCO) is pleased to announce that:

PART OF ITS 1996 PROGRAMME OF CONFERENCES IS NOW AVAILABLE

on the WWW server of the European Science Foundation on Internet at:

http://www.esf.c-strasbourg.fr

The Programme is being updated regularly and the Full Programme should now be available.

The EURESCO Pages also include:

- Detailed information on individual events (topics, speakers, prices, location....) as soon as the become available - The possibility to fill in an Application Form to a conference online - The possibility to consult the list of participants to a conference as soon as results are known - Information on the General aims of the EURESCO Programme

and Much More....

if you do not have access to the World Wide Web, details on the Programme and individual events will soon become available on File Transfer Protocol (FTP) under "anonymous" access at:

ftp.esf.c-strasbourg.fr

(ii) SYMPOSIUM ON THE BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY OF NITROGEN OXIDES

26-28 March, 1996; ACS National Meeting, New Orleans

List of Speakers and General Topic Areas for Presentations

Session I: Overview of the Chemistry and Biochemistry of Nitrogen Oxides

Prof L Ignarro, UCLA: The Biology of Nitric Oxide Prof J Enemark, Arizona: Transition Metal Complexes of Nitrogen Oxides Prof W Koppenol, ETH Zurich: Fundamental Chemistry of Nitrogen Oxides Prof S Bohle, Wyoming: Synthesis and Characterization of Higher Nitrogen Oxides Prof J Lipscomb, Minnesota: Nitric Oxide as a Probe of Metalloprotein Structure and Function

Session II: The Chemistry and Biology of Nitrogen Oxide Reduction

Prof B Averill, Amsterdam: The Mechanisms of Cu and Fe

Nitrite Reductases Prof P Kroneck, Konstanz: Nitrous Oxide Reductase Prof E Adman, Univ. Washington Structure and Function of Copper Nitrite Reductase Prof I Moura, Lisbon: Hexaheme Nitrite Reductatses Prof W Tolman, Minnesota: Synthetic Modeling of Copper Protein-Nitrogen Oxide Interactions

Session III: NO as a Biological Signalling Agent. The Chemistry of NO Synthesis and Action

Prof Dennis Stuehr, Cleveland Clinic: The Biosynthesis of NO by Nitric Oxide Synthase Prof J Fukuto, UCLA: Modelling the Biosynthesis of NO Prof F A Walker, Arizona: A Novel NO Liberating Protein from a Bloodsucking Insect Prof J Burstyn, Wisconsin: NO Activation of Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase Dr L Keefer, NIH: NO-Releasing Complexes as Pharmaceutical Agents

Session IV: Fundamental Chemistry of Nitrogen Oxides and Their Complexes

Prof R Scheidt, Notre Dame: Iron Porphyrin NOx Chemistry Prof P Legzdins, British Columbia: Reactivity of Metal Nitrosyl Complexes Prof T Meyer, North Carolina: Mechanistic Studies of NOx Reduction by Iron Porphyrins Prof G Richter-Addo, U. Oklahoma: Metalloporphyrin Complexes of NO and NO-donors Prof P Ford, UCSB: Photochemistry of Iron and Copper Nitrosyls, Biological NO Sensing with Model Complexes Prof Dean Wilcox, Dartmouth: Detection of NO in Biological Systems

Please send any enquiries to:

Judith N Burstyn Department of Chemistry University of Wisconsin 1101 University Ave. Madison, WI 53706 USA Tel: +1 (608)262-0328 Fax: +1 (608)262-6143 Email: burstyn@chem.wisc.edu

This information is also posted on the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry WWW site at:http://infoeagle.bc.edu/chemistry/Inorganic/Inorganic.html And the ACS DIC Bioinorganic Subdivision site at: http://sbchm1.sunysb.edu/koch/biic.html

(iii) 6TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE ACTIVATION OF DIOXYGEN AND HOMOGENEOUS CATALYTIC OXIDATION

14-19 April, 1996; Leeuwenhorst Congress Centre, The Netherlands

The symposium will be focused on the activation of dioxygen in chemical and biological systems and catalytic oxidations in the liquid phase using dioxygen, hydrogen peroxide, organic hydroperoxides and other single oxygen donors. A separate session will be devoted to industrial catalytic oxidation processes. The topics that will be emphasized include:

Biological and biomimetic oxidations Activation of dioxygen by metal complexes Catalytic oxidations with H2O2 and RO2H Industrial catalytic oxidation processes Catalytic asymmetric oxidations Heteropolyacids as oxidation catalysts in the liquid phase Phase transfer catalysis in catalytic oxidations Heterogeneous catalysis in liquid phase oxidations Catalytic oxidations of carbohydrates

Contact: The Netherlands Institution for Continuing Professional Development in Science & Engineering (PAON) Schipholweg 94 2316 XD LEIDEN The Netherlands Tel: +31 71 214 155 Fax: +31 71 226 549 Email: fennispaon@rulcri.leidenuniv.nl

(iv) IRON-SULPHUR PROTEINS GROUP MEETING

26 April, 1996; King's College London, UK

This meeting is an informal occasion, where anyone interested in iron-sulphur proteins can give a short presentation, exchange data and samples during the break, and discuss research in the bar afterwards. It is a chance for young speakers to present their work in an informal atmosphere. Anyone who would like to come, and has not received invitations in the past, should contact:

Richard Cammack King's College London Centre for the Study of Metals in Biology and Medicine Campden Hill Rd, London W8 7AH UK Tel: +44 (0)71 333 4264 Fax: +44 (0)71 333 4500 Email: R.CAMMACK@KCL.AC.UK

(v) ESF WORKSHOP ON BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY

9-11 May, 1996; Copenhagen, Denmark

GENERAL INFORMATION

The purpose of the Workshop is two-fold:

- to provide an updated overview of system variety and functionality of primarily metalloprotein electrochemistry, and -

to view protein electrochemistry in relation to modern theoretical views of electrode-electrolyte interfacial structure and the fundamental electrochemical process.

The Workshop will feature invited speakers and a poster session.

LOCATION

The Workshop will be held in Symbion Science Park, a new and modern facility housing industrial companies and university laboratories. Symbion Science Park is located close to the central Institutes of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Copenhagen.

COSTS

Hotel rooms at a price of 500 Dkr per night will be booked. Additional living expenses including a welcome party and all meals will be covered by a conference fee of approximately 2000 Dkr.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

The topics to be covered include:

- Fundamentals of the metal-electrolyte boundary - Proteins at electrochemical metal-electrolyte boundaries - The electrochemical interface - Enzyme electrochemistry - Protein adsorption at surfaces - Perspectives and outlook

LIST OF INVITED SPEAKERS:

The following scientists have so far agreed to present invited talks:

J E T Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) F A Armstrong (Oxford, UK) P Bianco (Marseille, France) E F Bowden (Raleigh, USA) R Guidelli (Firenze, Italy) W R Hagen (Wageningen, The Netherlands) D Heering (Oxford, UK) A Heller (Austin, USA) H A O Hill (Oxford, UK) D M Kolb (Ulm, Germany) A A Kornyshev (Julich, Germany) L I Krishtalik (Moscow, Russia) J Kulys (Vilnius, Lithuania) A M Kuznetsov (Moscow, Russia) S M Lindsay (Tempe, USA) R L McCreery (Columbus, USA) M F Nielsen (Copenhagen, Denmark) L Peter (Bath, UK) S Trasatti (Milan, Italy)

PARTICIPATION:

The number of participants is limited to 60 persons of whom at least about 10 should be young researchers. Limited financial support towards accommodation and living expenses is available mainly for young researchers.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Further information about the scientific program and local arrangements will be mailed to those who contact:

Dr Merete Folmer Nielsen Department of Chemistry Symbion Science Park Fruebjergvej 3 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark Email: m.f.nielsen@symbion.ki.ku.dk

(vi) CONFERENCE ON OXYGEN INTERMEDIATES IN NONHEME METALLOBIOCHEMISTRY

23-27 June, 1996; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, USA

A Conference organised by the Centre for Metals in Biocatalysis at the University of Minnesota.

TOPICS:

Dioxygen binding Dioxygen activation Monooxygenases and dioxygenases Catalases an oxidases Metal-catalysed oxidation of organic molecules High-valent species Ligand design Trapping of reactive species Mechanistic analysis

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME:

The Conference will consist of thirty invited lectures plus contributed poster presentations. Two round tables discussions are planned: one on techniques for trapping and characterizing reactive species, and the other on ligand design.

Details for the submission of posters is provided in the Second Circular which was sent out in October 1995.

The following scientists have been invited to speak at the Conference so far:

Jack E Baldwin, Oxford, UK Kenneth D Karlin, Johns Hopkins Judith P Klinman, UC Berkeley Stephen J Lippard, MIT, USA Par Nordlund, Stockholm Vincent L Pecoraro, Michigan, SA Britt-Marie Sjoberg, Stockholm Edward I Solomon, Stanford, USA JoAnne Stubbe, MIT,USA Joan Selverstone Valentine, UCLA Yoshihito Watanabe, Okazaki Karl Wieghardt, Mulheim

For Correspondence and Programme Information please contact:

Nancy Hagberg, Secretary Centre for Metals in Biocatalysis University of Minnesota 139 Smith Hall 207 Pleasant Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA Tel: +1 612 625 2503 Fax: +1 612 624 7029 Email: hagberg@chemsun.chem.umn.edu

(vii) 24TH MEETING OF THE FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES (FEBS) 7-12 July, 1996; Barcelona, Spain

SYMPOSIA

MOLECULAR AND METABOLIC ASPECTS OF DISEASE

Human Genome and Disease Carbohydrate Metabolism and Diabetes Lipid Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases Gene Therapy Structure and Function Alterations in Disease

STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS IN MACROMOLECULES

Proteins Folding and Transport Nucleic Acid-Protein Interactions Molecular Interactions in Membranes Enzyme Engineering Structure and Function Alterations in Disease

SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION AND CELL PROLIFERATION

Signal Transduction Cell-Cell Interactions Molecular Interactions in Membranes Proliferation, Differentiation and Apoptosis Cell Cycle and Cancer

GENOME ORGANISATION AND EXPRESSION

Human Genome and Disease Evolution and Function of Gene Complexes Genome Organisation Regulation of Transcription Post-transcription Regulation of Gene Expression

MOLECULAR ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT AND DIFFERENTIATION

Pattern Formation and establishment of Body Axes Evolution and Function of Gene Complexes Tissue Regeneration Proliferation, Differentiation and Apoptosis Neurogenesis

PLENARY LECTURES

F Mayor (UNESCO) - Global scientific challenges

J Massague (New York, USA) - TGFB family signals: From morphogens to antimitogens

SIR HANS KREBS LECTURE J Schell (Koln, German) - Probing the mechanisms of action of old and new phytohormones

R Huber (Martinsried, Germany) - Protein structures at the interface of chemistry physics and biology

A Klug (Cambridge, UK) Protein designs for the recognition of DNA and gene regulation

DATTA LECTURE C Weissmann (Zurich, Switzerland) The prion: An infectious protein?

WORKSHOPS

Determination of Macromolecular Structure Metabolic Engineering Adrenergic Receptors and Adrenergic Regulation Teaching of Biochemistry in Intergrated Curricula Plant-Pathogen Interactions Enzyme Regulation Oxidative Stress Alzheimer's Disease Intracellular Traffic of Proteins Metabolic Control Analysis Lipid Dynamics and Function Nitrogen Metabolism

For enquiries contact:

FEBS '96 Scientific Secretariat Facultat de Quimica Universitat de Barcelona Av Diagonal 647 E-08028 Barcelona SPAIN Tel: +34 3 402 10 08 Fax: +34 3 411 14 92 Email: febs96@sun.bq.ub.es

(viii) CONFERENCE ON THE CHEMISTRY OF THE PLATINUM GROUP METALS 1996

21-26 July, 1996; The Royal Society of Chemistry, York

SPEAKERS

Keynote Lecturers

Brookhart (US), Eisenstein (France), Ertl (Germany), Graetzel (Switzerland), Sadler (UK)

Invited Lecturers

Alper (Canada), Barnard (UK), Bengtsson (Sweden), Carmona (Spain), Dixneuf (France), Geiger (US), Graziani (Italy), P. Hofmann (Germany), L. Lewis (US), Milstein (Israel), Murai (Japan), Orpen (UK), Puddephatt (Canada), Reid (UK), Sen (US), J.M.J. Williams (UK), Ziessel (France)

Provisional titles for the sessions will be:

Bioinorganic Coordination Chemistry Organic Applications Theory and Physical Methods Homogeneous Catalysis Surfaces, Heterogeneous Catalysis and Materials Photochemistry and Electrochemistry

There will be favourable rates for students and a buffet for students to meet the speakers. We even have sponsorship for poster prizes. Delegates will also be eligible for Dalton Bursaries.

Any enquiries to:

Dr J F Gibson OR Prof Robin Perutz The Royal Society of Chemistry Dept of Chemistry Burlington House University of York LONDON W1V 0BN UK YORK YO1 5DD UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Tel: +44 (0)1904 432549 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227 Fax: +44 (0)1904 432516 Email: rnp1@york.ac.uk

(ix) EUROBIC III - 3rd EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY

4-10 August, 1996; Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands

Organisation:

C Veeger, W R Hagen, M C Feiters (Wageningen/Nigmegen, The Netherlands)

The organisers encourage the participation

of young scientists and it is intended that they will be partially refunded.

The Conference will focus on all actual themes from current Bioinorganic Chemistry, including:

- Structure-function relationships in Metalloenzymes - Coordination compounds in Medicine - Models for Metalloprotein Active Sites - Spectroscopic of bioinorganic systems and models.

The following speakers have accepted the invitation to give a plenary lecture:

L Que, Minneapolis, USA L Dutton, Philadelphia, USA M Vol'pin, Moskow, Russia C D Garner, Manchester, UK B Meunier, Toulouse, France I Bertini, Florence, Italy P Kroneck, Konstanz, Germany G Wachtershauser, Munich, Germany

Contact: Prof C Veeger Department of Biochemistry Wageningen Agricultural University Dreyenlaan 3, NL-6703 HA Wageningen The Netherlands Tel: +31 837082868 Fax: +31 837084801 Email: Eurobic@secr.bc.wau.nl

EUROPEAN MEDAL AND LECTURE FOR BIOLOGICAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY 1996 AWARD

The above award will be presented and an associated lecture given at EUROBIC III. The award is for internationally recognised scientific excellence in Biological Inorganic Chemistry. Some preference will be given to younger European scientists (under 50 years) over more senior established scientists. The award is intended not only to recognise the individual's scientific merit but also to raise the profile of Biological Inorganic Chemistry and to promote its European integration. It is hoped that funds will be available to enable the winner to give his/her lecture at a number of venues throughout Europe in late 1996 and 1997.

(x) TWELFTH JOHN INNES SYMPOSIUM

9-12 September, 1996; John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK

PROTEIN MACHINES: SWITCHES, MOTORS, PUMPS AND RATCHETS

OUTLINE PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS

MONDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER:

20.00 17TH BATESON MEMORIAL LECTURE - R.J.P. Williams (Oxford, UK) Title: An introduction to Protein Machines

TUESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER:

Introduction and Welcome - R. B. Flavell (Norwich, UK)

S Harrison (Cambridge, USA) Overview: Functional domains of Protein Machines

SESSION 1: MOTORS

H Berg (Cambridge, USA) - The flagellar rotary motor

K Holmes (Heidelberg, Germany) - The myosin motor

D White (York, UK) - Site directed mutagenesis and myosin function

T Mitchison (San Francisco, USA) - The mitotic spindle - a large, dynamic protein machine

SESSION 2: SWITCHES

E Pai (Toronto, Canada) - One of the traffic lights at the crossroads of signal transduction: The small GTPase ras p21.

C MacKintosh (Dundee, UK) - Protein phosphatase switches

L Johnson (Oxford, UK) - Title: Control by protein phosphorylation; phosphorylase and phosphorylase kinase

WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER:

D Hodgson (Warwick, UK) - A light-switch for activation of gene expression: A sigma factor, an anti-sigma factor and singlet oxygen as a secondary messenger

J Guest (Sheffield, UK) - FNR and redox-regulated gene expression

SESSION 3: PUMPS

J Walker (Cambridge, UK) - F1ATPASE (specific title awaited)

R Cogdell (Glasgow, UK) - How photosynthetic bacteria harvest light energy

C Higgins (Oxford, UK) - ABC transporters: The molecular mechanisms of active transport

H Michel (Frankfurt, Germany) - Structure of the cytochrome c oxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans

P Rich (Bodmin, UK) - Coupling of ion and charge movements: From peroxidases to respiratory complexes

R Gennis (Illinois, USA) - Cytochrome oxidases

T Allen (Manchester, UK) - The nuclear pore complex - conduit, pump or turnstile

Poster Session

THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER:

SESSION 4: RATCHETS

A Goldfarb (New York, USA) - Structure-function studies of E. coli RNA polymerase

C Joyce (Yale, USA) - Structure-function studies of E. coli DNA polymerase I

D Wigley (Oxford, UK) - ATP-driven DNA strand transfer in DNA gyrase

K Simons (Heidelberg, Germany) - Glycolipid rafting, a new mechanism to transport lipids and proteins in membrane trafficking

R Freedman (Canterbury, UK) - Catalysts and chaperones of protein folding

T Clarke (Bristol, UK) - Chaperonins

Please send any enquiries to:

Mrs Jeni A Fox (Symposium Secretary) John Innes Centre Norwich Research Park Colney Norwich NR4 7UH UK Tel: +44 (0)1603 452571 Fax: +44 (0)1603 456844

(xi) SEVENTEETH EUROPEAN CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC MEETING

24-28 August, 1997; Instituto Superior Tecnico in Lisboa, Portugal

The scientific programme will include plenary lectures, invited talks and oral presentations inserted in microsymposia and poster sessions. Emphasis will be given to areas such as protein crystallography, electron microscopy, solid state chemistry, powder diffraction and applications of synchrotron radiation.

The Programme Committee welcomes all types of contributions within Crystallography. Among others, the following topics will be covered:

Biological Macromolecules Protein-nucleic acids interactions Enzymes/Metalloproteins/Glycoproteins Cell surface proteins Macromolecules in signal transduction Small Molecules/Organometallic/Co-ordination compounds Diffraction techniques X-rays/Neutrons/Electrons Electron densities Powder methods Methods for structure determination Phasing, ab initio and MAD High resolution studies Refinement of macromolecular structures Structure validation Local structure by X-ray absorption spectroscopy Crystal growth Synchrotron radiation/Instrumentation Data bases

_______________________________________________________________________

PRE-REGISTRATION FORM

Surname:__________________

Name:__________________

Title (Prof, Dr, Ms, Mr): _________________

Address:___________________

Phone:__________________

Fax:__________________

Email:_______________

I wish to present a communication: Yes/No

Areas of special interest:_________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Please send a pre-registration form by e-mail NOT LATER than MARCH 1996 _______________________________________________________________________

Any other questions concerning to ECM-17 should be addressed by e-mail to:

romao@itqb.unl.pt

ECM 17/ Secretariat Dept. Engenharia Quimica, Instituto Superior TÈcnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1096 Lisboa, Portugal

_______________________________________________________________________

Contact: Maria Joao Romao Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica Rua da Quinta Grande 6 Apartado 127 2780 OEIRAS PORTUGAL Tel: (351-1) 442-6246 Ext. 237/341 Fax: (351-1) 442-8766 Email: romao@itqb.unl.pt

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SYMPOSIUM PROPOSAL on INORGANIC ELECTROCHEMISTRY

I proposed to the organisers a symposium on 'inorganic electrochemistry' as part of the third annual Electrochem conference, Electrochem'96 (University of Bath, mid-September 1996), organised by the Electrochemistry group of the RSC and the Electrochemical Technology Group of the SCI. They have asked me to suggest a theme for the symposium, a possible plenary lecturer, a tentative list of speakers, and a co-organiser.

The first meeting in this series, at Edinburgh in 1994, had a symposium on 'Inorganic Electrochemistry', which attracted considerable support, but inorganic/synthetic chemists were not conspicuous at Electrochem '95 in Bangor. I think that there are currently many synthetic chemists (both organic and inorganic) who for various reasons make redox-active molecules, and therefore who use electrochemical methods. I suggest 'Redox-Active Smart Molecules' as a possible title.

If anyone has any suggestions, or would like to volunteer (either themselves or a colleague!) to give a talk, please reply to me (shiggins@liv.ac.uk) rather than to the mailbase. I will collate the responses and post an update later.

Dr Simon Higgins Department of Chemistry Donnan

Laboratories PO Box 147 University of Liverpool LIVERPOOL L69 3BX UK Tel: +44 (0)151 794 3512 Fax: +44 (0)151 794 3588 Email: shiggins@liv.ac.uk

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(3) * * * POSITIONS AVAILABLE * * *

In this section openings for Ph.D. students or Post-docs may be advertised. A d e a d l i n e for the submission of applications should always be given.

(4) * * * POSITIONS SOUGHT * * *

In this section Ph.D. students or Post-docs may seek a position by providing their address plus one or two sentences describing their interests.

RAJIV BHALLA

My PhD thesis, completed under the supervision of Professor C D Garner, at the University of Manchester, has involved the design and synthesis of a variety of poly-imidazole ligands and the investigation of their coordination with copper as potential analogues of copper proteins.

These ligands are able to bind to various metal centres to produce complexes with a low coordination number. The physical properties of these novel systems have been investigated.

I am now seeking a post-doctoral position which will hopefully enable me to continue my research into biological inorganic chemistry.

Please contact me at Dave.Garner@Manchester.ac.uk.

(5) * * * CONTACTS REQUESTED * * *

This is an electronic bulletin board where individuals or groups can declare research interest and seek collaborations and/or further information.

(i) RESEARCH NEWS

We have undertaken a series of Density Functional Theory calculations of active site models for Xanthine Oxidase. Our primary goal was to provide confirmation of the likely presence of hydroxide coordinated to the Mo(VI) centre and, to the extent that the chosen model ligands are reasonable representations of the actual donors, we obtain virtually identical agreement with the latest EXAFS data using the model complex [MoOS(S2R2)(OH)], where S2R2 is either two methylthiolates (CH3S-) or a dithiloene ([SRC=CRS]2-, R=H, CH3). All other choices involving a range of four- five- and six-coordinate species give much poorer agreement with the EXAFS distances.

We are in the process of writing this work up. However, in the interests of completeness, I instructed my student to do some calculations on MoO2-Sulfur systems, even though there is no experimental evidence for two terminal oxo groups, and he obtained an unusual and interesting result. For the model with two thioloate ligands, not only do the sulfurs coordinate to the Mo as expected, but they also bind to each other thus forming a three-membered MoS2 ring. The S-S distance is virtually the same as the sum of the covalent radii (i.e. about 2.1A). We can find no report of what is effectively a disulfide bridge acting as a ligand. However, perhaps we have not looked in the correct places.

I would welcome any comments/queries on this topic. Please e-mail me at

R.J.DEETH@Warwick.ac.uk

or send snail-mail to Dr Rob Deeth Inorganic Computational Chemistry Group Department of Chemistry University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK Tel: +44 (0)1203 523187 Fax: +44 (0)1203 524112

I look forward to reading your expert thoughts!

(6) * * CALENDAR OF FORTH COMING MEETINS * * ** AND CONFERENCES OF POTENTIAL * * * INTEREST TO BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTS ** * *

1 9 9 6

A CELEBRATION OF CHEMISTRY 4-7 February, 1996; The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Contact: Professor M G Banwell

Research School of Chemistry The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 (6) 279 8202 Fax: +61 (6) 249 5995 Email: mgb@rsc.anu.edu.au

29TH INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON ESR SPECTROSCOPY 24-28 March, 1996; University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK Contact: Dr J G Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House London WV10 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 437 8883

211TH AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING 26-28 March, 1996; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Contact: American Chemical Society, Meetings PO Box 18598, 20th St Station Washington DC 20036-8598 USA

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CHEMISTRY (UK) ANNUAL CONGRESS 1-4 April, 1996; University of Bristol, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

6TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE ACTIVATION OF DIOXYGEN AND HOMOGENEOUS CATALYTIC OXIDATION 14-19 April, 1996; Leeuwenhorst Congress Centre, The Netherlands Contact: The Netherlands Institution for Continuing Professional Development in Science & Engineering Schipholweg 94 2316 XD Leiden THE NETHERLANDS Tel: +31 (71) 214 155 Fax: +31 (71) 226 549 Email: fennispaon@rulcri.leidenuniv.nl

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (ICEP 3) 15-19 April, 1996; Budapest, HUNGARY Contact: Professor B Nath ICEP Conference Office 253 Kilburn Lane (Unit 5) London W10 4BQ UK Tel: +44 (0)181 960 6823 Fax: +44 (0)181 960 1597

IRON-SULPHUR PROTEINS GROUP MEETING 26 April, 1996; King's College London, UK Contact: Richard Cammack King's College London Centre for the Study of Metals in Biology and Medicine Campden Hill Rd, London W8 7AH UK Tel: +44 (0)71 333 4264 Fax: +44 (0)71 333 4500 Email: R.CAMMACK@KCL.AC.UK

ESF WORKSHOP ON BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY 9-11 May, 1996; Copenhagen, Denmark Contact: M F Nielsen Department of Chemistry Symbion Science Park Fruebjergvej 3 DK-2100 Copenhagen DENMARK Email: m.f.nielsen@sybion.ki.ku.dk

6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NICKEL ANALYTICAL AND BIOCHEMISTRY Summer, 1996; Tokyo, Japan. Contact: Professor Evert Nieboer McMaster University Hamilton Ontario L8N 3Z5 CANADA

NATO ASI CONFERENCE ON "CYTOTOXIC, MUTAGENIC AND CARCINOGENIC POTENTIAL OF HEAVY METALS RELATED TO HUMAN ENVIRONMENT" 15-26 June, 1996; Karpacz, Poland Contact: Prof N Hadjiliadis University of Ioannina Dept of Chemistry Laboratory of Inorganic and General Chemistry Ioannina 451 10 GREECE Tel: +30 651 98420/98419 Fax: +30 651 44831/44112 Email: nhadjil@cc.uoi.gr

CONFERENCE ON OXYGEN INTERMEDIATES IN NONHEME METALLOBIOCHEMISTRY 23-27 June, 1996; University of Minnesota, USA Contact: N Hagberg Centre for Metals in Biocatalysis University of Minnesota 139 Smith Hall 207 Pleasant Street SE Minneapolis MN 55455 USA Tel: +1 612 625 2503 Fax: +1 612 624 7029 Email: hagberg@chemsun.chem.umn.edu

XXI INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MACROCYCLIC CHEMISTRY 23-28 June, 1996; Montecatini Terme, Italy Contact: Professor A Bianchi Department of Chemistry University of Florence Via Maragliano 75/77 50144 Florence Italy Tel: +39 (55) 354 841 Fax: +39 (55) 354 845

XVII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY 7-12 July, 1996; Brisbane, Australia Contact: Eva Comino Secretariat, International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry Faculty of Science and Technology Griffith University Brisbane 4111 AUSTRALIA Tel:

+61 7 875 7564 Fax: +61 7 875 5369

24TH MEETING OF THE FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES (FEBS 96) 7-12 July, 1996; Barcelona, Spain Contact: FEBS '96 Scientific Secretariat Facultat de Quimica Universitat de Barcelona Av Diagonal 647 E-08028 Barcelona SPAIN Tel: +34 3 402 10 08 Fax: +34 3 411 14 92 Email: febs96@sun.bq.ub.es

6TH INTERNATIONAL MEETING: REACTION MECHANISMS 9-12 July, 1996; University of Kent, Canterbury, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House London W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE CHEMISTRY OF THE PLATINUM GROUP METALS 21-26 July, 1996; University of York, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY 21-26 July 1996; New England College, Henniker, USA Contact: D Thorn Central Research and Development Department EI DuPont de Nemours and Co Inc Experimental Station PO Box 80328 Wilmington DE 19880-0328 USA Tel: +1 302 695 3673 Fax: +1 302 695 9799 Email: thorn@esvax.dnet.dupont.com

3RD EUROPEAN BIOINORGANIC CONFERENCE, METAL IONS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS (EUROBIC III) 4-10 August, 1996; Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands Contact: Prof C Veeger Department of Biochemistry Wageningen Agricultural University Dreyenlaan 3, NL-6703 HA Wageningen The Netherlands Tel: +31 837082868 Fax: +31 837084801 Email: Eurobic@secr.bc.wau.nl

31ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COORDINATION CHEMISTRY (ICCC) 18-23 August, 1996; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Contact: Prof C Orvig Dept of Chemistry University of British Columbia Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1 CANADA Tel: +1 604-822 4445 Fax: +1 604-822 2847 Email: orvig@chem.ubc.ca

212TH AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING 25-29 August, 1996; Orlando, Florida, USA Contact: American Chemical Society, Meetings PO Box 18598, 20th St Station Washington DC 20036-8598 USA

IX INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON X-RAY ABSORPTION FINE STRUCTURE 26-30 August, 1996; Grenoble, France Contact: XAFS IX Conference Office ESRF BP 220 F-38043 FRANCE Fax: +33 76 88 21 60 Email: XAFS9@esrf.fr

3RD INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM: TRANSITION METALS IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS 4-6 September, 1996; Imperial College, London, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson Transition Metals in Organic Synthesis' Symposium The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

24TH SYMPOSIUM OF THE EUROPEAN PEPTIDE SOCIETY 8-13 September, 1996; Edinburgh, Scotland, UK Contact: Dr John F Gibson 24 European Peptide Society Symposium The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House London W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

RSC AUTUMN MEETING 9-12 September, 1996; University of Brunel, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

JOHN INNES SYMPOSIUM ON PROTEIN MACHINES: SWITCHES, MOTORS, PUMPS AND RATCHETS 9-12 September, 1996; John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK Contact: Mrs Jeni A Fox John Innes Centre Norwich Research Park Colney Norwich NR4 7UH UK Tel: +44 (0)1603 452571 Fax: +44 (0)1603 456844

EUROTOX'96; 35TH CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF TOXICOLOGY 22-25 September 1996; Alicante, Spain Contact: E Vilanova University

Institute of Neurosciences Laboratory of Toxicology Ap Correos 374 E-03080 Alicante SPAIN

FIFTH EURASIA CONFERENCE ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES 10-14 December, 1996; Guangzhou, China Contact: Professor Liang-Nian Ji Biotechnology Research Centre Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) University Guangzhou, Canton 510275 CHINA Tel: +86 (20) 418 5461 Fax: +86 (20) 418 9173 Email: leiy@bepc2.ihep.ac.cn

1 9 9 7

213TH AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING 13-17 April, 1997; San Francisco, California, USA Contact: American Chemical Society, Meetings PO Box 18598, 20th St Station Washington DC 20036-8598 USA

CHEMISTRY OF METAL IONS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS April, 1997; Albufeira, Portugal Chairman: R N F Thorneley (Sussex, UK) Vice Chairman: M Fontecave (Grenoble, France) Contact: R N F Thorneley Nitrogen Fixation Unit University of Sussex Falmer Brighton Sussex BN1 9RQ UK Tel: +44 161 0273 678130 Fax: +44 161 0273 678133 Email: THORNELEYR@BBSRC.AC.UK

5TH ACS, EPA AND DELAWARE WORKSHOP ON METAL SPECIATION Spring, 1997; Jekyll Island, Georgia, USA Contact: Dr A.W. Garrison U.S.E.P.A. Environmental Research Laboratory College Station Road Athens Georgia 30613-7799 USA

3RD INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF METAL TOXICITY AND CARCINOGENICITY Spring 1997; Sardinia, Italy Contact: Professor Max Costa Institute of Environmental Medicine Long Meadow Road Tuxedo New York 10987 USA

13TH INTERNATIONAL MEETING NMR SPECTROSCOPY 6-11 July, 1997; University of Exeter, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY (ICBIC 8) 27 July-1 August, 1997; Yokohama, Japan. Contact: Prof Masanobu Hidai Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology Faculty of Engineering University of Tokyo Hongo 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113 Japan Tel: +81 3 3812 2111 (Ext: 7261) Tax: +81 3 5800 6945

17TH EUROPEAN CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC MEETING 24-28 August, 1997; Instituto Superior Tecnico in Lisboa, Portugal Contact: Maria Joao Romao Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica Rua da Quinta Grande 6, Apartado 127 2780 OEIRAS PORTUGAL Tel: (351-1) 442-6246 Ext. 237/341 Fax: (351-1) 442-8766 Email: romao@itqb.unl.pt

17TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (IUBMB) 24-29 August, 1997; San Francisco, California, USA

RSC AUTUMN MEETING September, 1997; University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson The Royal Society of Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

214TH AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING 7-11 September, 1997; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Contact: American Chemical Society, Meetings PO Box 18598, 20th St Station Washington DC 20036-8598 USA

3RD INTERNATIONAL SYPOSIUM ON 'SPECIATION OF ELEMENTS IN BIOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL SCIENCES' 15-19 September, 1997; The Torresian Resort Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia Contact: Third speciation symposium c/o Dr J P Matousek Department of Analytical Chemistry The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 2 3854713/+61 2 4512322 (home) Fax: +61 2 3856141 Email: J.Matousek@unsw.edu.au

1 9 9 8

9TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON 'RELATIONS BETWEEN HOMOGENEOUS AND HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS' 20-24 July, 1998; University of Southampton, UK Contact: Dr J F Gibson 9th SHHC The Royal Society of

Chemistry Burlington House LONDON W1V 0BN UK Tel: +44 (0)171 437 8656 Fax: +44 (0)171 734 1227

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

End of Newsletter No. 31 (31 January, 1996).

C DAVID GARNER