Advanced nuclear analytical techniques for metalloproteomics

Metalloproteomics is an emerging scientific field. It is focused to investigate the distributions and compositions of all metalloproteins in a proteome, their structural and functional characterization and their structural metal-binding moieties. Various nuclear analytical techniques, such as neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence, isotope tracer, Mossbauer spectrometry, X-ray absorption spectrometry and neutron scattering and diffraction, are powerful tools to study a number of the basic issues in metalloproteomics. In this paper, the applications of the advanced nuclear techniques in this field are selectively outlined, along with their advantages and limitations.