Adventures in Imaging Metallomics: illuminating metal behavior in cancer and beyond

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• Cinzia Imberti - Kings College London
• Thursday 18 September 2025, 15:00-16:00
• Jean Thomas Lecture theatre, Sanger Building, Tennis Court Road.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Sara Seddon.

More than 75% of all known chemical elements are metals, highlighting their fundamental role in nature and life. Among them, endogenous metal ions play crucial roles in virtually all biological processes, serving as signaling molecules or as structural and catalytic cofactors for proteins. Exogenous metals also interact with biological systems, a feature harnessed in the development of metal-based drugs, but also evident in the detrimental effects of environmental metal contaminants on our health. Despite their critical importance, the biological behavior of metals remains poorly understood, complicated by their intricate speciation and low concentrations in biological systems.

Recent advances in metal-specific imaging techniques such as laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) now make it possible to map the spatial distribution of metals in cells and tissues. At the same time, the growing availability of radiometals (52Mn, 62Zn, 64Cu, 195mPt, 203Pb) with emission properties suitable for radionuclide imaging, provides powerful tools to measure dynamic metal fluxes in vivo.

In this talk, I will discuss how we are integrating these complementary techniques — an approach we refer to as imaging metallomics — to illuminate the biological behavior of endogenous metals and metal-based therapeutics, with a particular focus on cancer.

This talk is part of the Biochemistry Seminar Series - External Speakers series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Biochemistry Seminar Series - External Speakers
• Cambridge Infectious Diseases
• Jean Thomas Lecture theatre, Sanger Building, Tennis Court Road
• PMRFPS's
• Seminars at the Department of Biochemistry
• ndk22's list
• rc781
• se393's list

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