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Lead poisoning, haem synthesis and 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase
M J Warren1, J B Cooper, S P Wood
1Dept of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK. warren@ucl.ac.uk
Trends in Biochemical Sciences
|June 30, 1998
Abstract:
In mammals and yeast, 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase is a zinc-dependent enzyme that catalyses the synthesis of porphobilinogen-the pyrrole building block that is incorporated into all modified tetrapyrroles, including haem, chlorophyll and vitamin B12. The X-ray structure of this enzyme reveals how substitution of the catalytically important zinc ion by lead inactivates the enzyme and causes a form of pseudo-porphyria.