Lead Synthesis Essay

Lead substitution for zinc in zing finger proteins can be determined through the use of NMR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Proton NMR is able to detect shifts in histidine protons in zinc fingers when bound to metal ions like zinc and lead. According to Razmiafshari et al., zinc and lead show very similar shifts, which indicates that lead can bind at the same site as zinc in zinc finger proteins. UV-Vis of zinc finger proteins substituted with lead showed peak changes in the spectrum, indicating that lead causes some structural change to the protein. It was suggested that lead coordinates in a trigonal pyramidal structure rather than tetrahedral, like with zinc. A difference in structure could lead to drastically different functions that could lead to different diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Schizophrenia. …show more content…
Human specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is linked to normal brain development and is a zinc finger protein, making it a candidate for lead substitution and an environmental factor in the onset of Alzheimer’s. A widely known characteristic of Alzheimer’s is the formation of plaques in the brain. These plaques can be caused by lead poisoning because the protein that generates these plaques, amyloid-β precursor protein (APP), contains zinc finger binding sites. These sites can be replaced with lead, leading to overexpression of the protein. Sp1 also regulates APP. It is thought that lead substituted Sp1 can cause upregulation of APP