Metallomics and the cell: some definitions and general comments.

In this chapter we aim at underlining the complexity of the interactions between living systems and inorganic elements. Attempts are made to move this field towards an "omics" approach through bioinfomatics and information technology. The metallome can be defined as the ensemble of all the biomolecules in a system which bind a given metal ion or an inorganic element at broad, or are affected by that element. A number of subsets of a metallome can then be defined based on the nature of the biomolecules interacting with the metal ions and the inorganic elements in general. The most relevant and most studied subset is the metalloproteome. This field now needs to be framed in a cellular context. The interlinks and connections among the various pathways and processes involving metal ions in the cell have to be described in an integrated way so to reach a systems biology vision.