Based on In Silico analysis, I have found that my protein is having metal binding properties. I want to confirm it using experimental method like binding site is there or not and which metal is there if it is present. How can I design my experiment to find out metal in proteins?
The best methods are probably atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. AAS instruments are usually available in good analytical labs. Check out what possibilities they have to determine the most common metals in biological systems (i.e. Mg,Ca, Cr, Co,Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Mo,Ni....) XAS is a top method but requires access to a synchrotron lab. There are several in the USA, a few in the UK and Germany. There is a recent article in "Genome Research" , Vol 21 (6).p. 898 -907 (2011) which describes a thorough study!
Good luck
Sture Forsen
For atomic absorption, you may need to prepare your protein first by dialysis with buffer treated with Chelex resin to remove all metals that are not tightly bound and are just artifacts in the preparation of your protein.
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