Amino Acids and their interactions with heavy metals

In this study we attempted to characterize amino acids properties and their possible interactions with the metal ions. In the first part of this study we described the structure of amino acids, its biochemical properties and its role in organism. In the next and the most important part we summarized accessible information about the metals and heavy metals which can form a bond with amino acids. Especially the heavy metals could have really important role in the process of metabolisms of amino acids, but this role is still unknown.

Fig. 1: Scheme of heavy metal detoxification in a plant cell

Fig. 2: Scheme of Cd²⁺ + PC2 via -SS- bridge

1. Mahadevan, R.; Bond, D.R.; Butler, J.E.; Esteve-Nunez, A.; Coppi, M.V.; Palsson, B.O.; Schilling, C.H.; Lovley, D.R. Characterization of metabolism in the Fe(III)-reducing organism Geobacter sulfurreducens by constraint-based modeling. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2006, 72, 1558-1568.
2. Silver, S.; Phung, L.T. Bacterial heavy metal resistance: New surprises. Annual Review of Microbiology. 1996, 50, 753-789.
3. Hall, J.L. Cellular mechanisms for heavy metal detoxification and tolerance. J Exp Bot. 2002, 53, 1-11.
4. Toohey, J.I. Sulfur Amino Acids in Diet-induced Fatty Liver: A New Perspective Based on Recent Findings. Molecules. 2014, 19, 8334-8349.
5. Giles, N.M.; Giles, G.I.; Jacob, C. Multiple roles of cysteine in biocatalysis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2003, 300, 1-4.
6. Zenk, M.H.; Juenger, M. Evolution and current status of the phytochemistry of nitrogenous compounds. Phytochemistry. 2007, 68, 2757-2772.
7. Bridges, C.C.; Zalups, R.K. Homocysteine, system b0,+ and the renal epithelial transport and toxicity of inorganic mercury. Am J Pathol. 2004, 165, 1385-1394.
8. Appleton, T.G.; Hall, J.R.; Prenzler, P.D.; Ross, F.B. Complexes of Peptides and related molecules with diammine Platinum-II moldels for platinum protein interactions. Anti-Cancer Drug Design. 1991, 6, 262-263.
9. Pokrovsky, O.S.; Martinez, R.E.; Golubev, S.V.; Kompantseva, E.I.; Shirokova, L.S. Adsorption of metals and protons on Gloeocapsa sp cyanobacteria: A surface speciation approach. Applied Geochemistry. 2008, 23, 2574-2588.
10. Zoroddu, M.A.; Medici, S.; Peana, M.; Kowalik-Jankowska, T.; Kozlowski, H. Interaction of Cap43 Protein Fragments with Ni(II) and Cu(II), Medimond S R L, 40128 Bologna, 2008.
11. Hoyau, S.; Ohanessian, G. Interaction of alkali metal cations (Li+-Cs+) with glycine in the gas phase: A theoretical study. Chemistry-a European Journal. 1998, 4, 1561-1569.
12. Noctor, G.; Queval, G.; Mhamdi, A.; Chaouch, S.; Foyer, C.H. Glutathione. Arabidopsis Book. 2011, 9, 18.
13. Cobbett, C.S. Phytochelatins and their roles in heavy metal detoxification. Plant Physiol. 2000, 123, 825-832.
14. Chen, R.; Ren, S.; Meng, T.; Aguilar, J.; Sun, Y. Impact of glutathione-S-transferases (GST) polymorphisms and hypermethylation of relevant genes on risk of prostate cancer biochemical recurrence: a meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2013, 8.

PDF