Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Non-Traditional Metallation Of Metallothioneins With Xenobiotic Therapeutic Metals, Daisy L. Wong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The rise of the Anthropocene has seen more global pollution than before in history. With the explosion of consumer electronics in the last half century, the rise of metal pollution from their extraction and disposal results in the unnatural introduction of heavy and rare metals into the ecosystem. Organisms have a metal defense protein, metallothionein, which has multiple roles in essential metal regulation and protection against minimal toxic metal exposure. However, these modern heavy metals prominent in electronics are not found biologically and their interactions in the body are generally unknown. Some of these metals are employed as therapeutic agents …