Is there a connection between heavy metal toxicity and defects in cholesterol metabolism?
The transfer of cholesterol to the important developmental protein sonic hedgehog in order to activate it requires the action of a critical amino acid called cysteine in a certain specific part (called the active site) of the sonic hedgehog protein. Mercury specifically reacts with cysteine sulfhydryl groups, thus inactivating this important biochemical function. This same amino acid in sonic hedgehog plays a role in the introduction of another critical fatty acid called palmitic acid into a critical place in the sonic hedgehog molecule. Mercury would likely inhibit this function as well.
