Lanthanides are relative newcomers to the field of cell biology of metals; their specific incorporation into enzymes was only demonstrated in 2011, with the isolation of a bacterial lanthanide- and pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent methanol dehydrogenase. Since that discovery, the efforts of many investigators have revealed that lanthanide utilization is widespread in environmentally important bacteria, and parallel efforts have focused on elucidating the molecular details involved in selective recognition and utilization of these metals. In this review, we discuss the particular chemical challenges and advantages associated with biology's use of lanthanides, as well as the currently known lanthano-enzymes and -proteins (the lanthanome). We also review the emerging understanding of the coordination chemistry and biology of lanthanide acquisition, trafficking, and regulatory pathways. These studies have revealed significant parallels with pathways for utilization of other metals in biology. Finally, we discuss some of the many unresolved questions in this burgeoning field and their potentially far-reaching applications.

镧系元素是金属细胞生物学领域的相对新手。仅在2011年证明了它们特异性地掺入酶中，并分离出了细菌镧系和吡咯并喹啉醌依赖性甲醇脱氢酶。自从发现以来，许多研究人员的努力表明，镧系元素的利用在对环境重要的细菌中广泛存在，而平行的努力则集中于阐明选择性识别和利用这些金属所涉及的分子细节。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了与使用镧系元素以及当前已知的镧系酶和-蛋白（镧系元素）相关的特定化学挑战和优势。我们还回顾了对镧系元素获取，运输和调控途径的配位化学和生物学的新兴理解。这些研究揭示了与生物学中其他金属利用途径的显着相似之处。最后，我们讨论了这个新兴领域中许多未解决的问题及其潜在的深远应用。