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Abstract(s)
Preface
Vanadium has long been known to mimic or to enhance insulin activity. It
was estimated that by the year 2025 about 300 million people would
suffer from diabetes mellitus. Diabetic patients are also subject to other
pathologies such as nephropathy, arterial and neurodegenerative
diseases. Behind the purpose to produce a special review book in
inorganic biochemistry in the area of vanadium compounds/vanadate
species, is the increase interest of vanadium knowledge, not only in
chemistry but also in biochemistry, biology, toxicology, pharmacology and
medicine. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring together remarkable
contributions from many people that are responsible, at least in part, for
the actual knowledge of vanadium in biological systems, as well for many
papers highly cited and for an entire generation of scientists in the field.
Personally, I consider myself a beginner in the Biochemistry of Vanadium,
(I obtained my first decavanadate solution 51V-NMR spectra by 1985, at
the University of Coimbra), and a product of the outstanding group of
scientists and teachers that lead the way about 25 years ago, at the late
70´s and early 80´s. They are truly responsible for the actual interest of
vanadium in fascinating and different scientific fields of research. The
present book can be divided in two main parts: vanadium
chemistry/biochemistry and biology/pharmacology/medicine, within the
16 chapters that wipe away the frontiers of 10 different countries. A
special attention is given to decavanadate structure and chemistry,
biochemistry (effects in muscle contraction/regulation) and in vivo
biological studies. Also noteworthy are the chapters describing studies in
aquatic organisms such as the ecophysiology perspectives of vanadium accumulation by ascidians, the use of fishes and fish cells lines for
understanding the processes of vanadium in biology, as an alternative to
mammalian systems, pointing out to a different interface of research.
Medicinal applications of vanadium are push forward in chapters focusing
structure-activity relationship of anti-diabetic vanadium complexes,
vanadium compounds as anti-tumour drugs and anti-parasitic agents,
improving bioactive ligands activity through complexation with vanadium,
osteogenic action of vanadium compounds and cytotoxicity, in order to
make vanadium available and safe for clinical use. Milestones in the
history of vanadium biochemistry are also the chapters about the redox
profile of vanadium, the role of vanadium in bromoperoxidases, the
vanadium binding proteins in ascidians and more recently decavanadate
interactions with lipidic structures. Putting it all together, this special
Vanadium Biochemistry book would not be so special without the
contributions of eminent scientists around the world, although some have
been recently retired, such as the esteemed Professor Ramasarma and the
esteemed Professor Sakurai. Thanking to all the contributors of the
Vanadium Biochemistry book, clearly a wide-ranging and in many aspects
an educational book that reflects, at least in part, the versatile and
fascinating biochemistry of vanadium.
Description
Keywords
Decavanadate
Citation
Publisher
Aureliano, Manuel