1. Heavy Metals and Human Health: Possible Exposure Pathways and the Competition for Protein Binding Sites
- Author
-
Karolina Chilicka, Danuta Witkowska, and Joanna Słowik
- Subjects
Protein Folding ,DNA damage ,Pharmaceutical Science ,Organic chemistry ,Plasma protein binding ,Review ,Cosmetics ,Analytical Chemistry ,Bioremediation ,QD241-441 ,bioremediation ,Detoxification ,Metals, Heavy ,Drug Discovery ,Humans ,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ,heavy metals ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Binding Sites ,biology ,Chemistry ,Environmental Exposure ,interactions ,Enzyme assay ,proteins ,Amino acid ,Enzymes ,Enzyme ,Biodegradation, Environmental ,Biochemistry ,Chemistry (miscellaneous) ,Food ,exposure ,biology.protein ,Molecular Medicine ,Protein folding ,Environmental Pollutants ,DNA Damage ,Protein Binding - Abstract
Heavy metals enter the human body through the gastrointestinal tract, skin, or via inhalation. Toxic metals have proven to be a major threat to human health, mostly because of their ability to cause membrane and DNA damage, and to perturb protein function and enzyme activity. These metals disturb native proteins’ functions by binding to free thiols or other functional groups, catalyzing the oxidation of amino acid side chains, perturbing protein folding, and/or displacing essential metal ions in enzymes. The review shows the physiological and biochemical effects of selected toxic metals interactions with proteins and enzymes. As environmental contamination by heavy metals is one of the most significant global problems, some detoxification strategies are also mentioned.
- Published
- 2021