Detoxication of Aromatic Cyanides

Role of Enzymes in the Remediation of Polluted Environments

Environmental pollution is growing more and more due to the indiscriminate and frequently deliberate release of hazardous, harmful substances. Research efforts have been devoted to develop new, low-cost, low-technology, eco-friendly treatments capable of reducing and even eliminating pollution in the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and soil environments. Among biological agents, enzymes have a grea...

Comparative detoxication. The detoxication of aromatic acids by invertebrates: detection of agmatine conjugates in scorpions.

1. Benzoic acid and p-nitrobenzoic acid were converted in the scorpion Palamnaeus into N(1)-benzoylagmatine and N(1)-p-nitrobenzoylagmatine. 2. Some benzoyl- and p-nitrobenzoyl-arginine were also formed and these compounds were probable precursors of the agmatine derivatives. 3. p-Nitrobenzoyl- and p-aminobenzoyl-arginine were formed in millipedes dosed with the aromatic acids. 4. Woodlice excr...

Deficiency of thiosulphate sulphurtransferase (rhodanese) in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is a rare cause of progressive visual failure. Its cause is unknown, but one hypothesis is that patients have a defect in the detoxication of cyanide. One of the enzymes used in this detoxication is thiosulphate sulphurtransferase (rhodanese). The activity of this enzyme was measured in the rectal mucosa of a group of subjects with Leber's hereditary optic ne...

Comparative detoxication. 5. Conjugation of aromatic acids in reptiles: formation of ornithuric acid, hippuric acid and glucuronides.

The Role of Human Aldo-Keto Reductases in the Metabolic Activation and Detoxication of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Interconversion of PAH Catechols and PAH o-Quinones

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants. They are procarcinogens requiring metabolic activation to elicit their deleterious effects. Aldo-keto reductases (AKR) catalyze the oxidation of proximate carcinogenic PAH trans-dihydrodiols to yield electrophilic and redox-active PAH o-quinones. AKRs are also found to be capable of reducing PAH o-quinones to form P...