Recent advances in bioinorganic chemistry of bismuth

Bismuth has been used in medicine for over two centuries for the treatment of various diseases, in particular for gastrointestinal disorders, owing to its antimicrobial activity. Recent structural characterization of bismuth drugs provides an insight into assembly and pharmacokinetic pathway of the drugs. Mining potential protein targets inside the pathogen via metallomic/metalloproteomic approach and further characterization on the interactions of bismuth drugs with these targets laid foundation in understanding the mechanism of action of bismuth drugs. Such studies would be beneficial in rational design of new potential drugs.

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► Bismuth anti-ulcer drugs exhibit polymeric structures.
► Bismuth complexes show potential other activities.
► Metallomic/metalloproteomic approach has been successfully used to identify bismuth binding proteins (targets).
► The metallodrug binds key proteins in the pathogen.