ABSTRACT
Essentially all chemical reactions in cells are catalyzed by enzymes, thus the action of a foreign chemical in the cell almost always involves disturbances in enzyme function. The chapter provides antioxidants and stress proteins somewhat arbitrarily, because they are cellular constituents. It presents the action of particular chemicals on intermediary metabolism enzymes, adenylates, and stress proteins and antioxidants. Enzymes are packaged, for the most part, in organelles, and the ultramicroscopic structure of these is altered by common water pollutants. Normally, the accumulation of oxyradicals is controlled by antioxidant enzymes and low molecular weight molecules such as glutathione and ascorbate. The stress proteins are a group of cellular proteins whose synthesis increases when the cell is subjected to any sort of stress. The potential for future utilization of the stress protein response is great because it should integrate damage due to multiple stressors while at the same time possibly yielding diagnostic information as to the cause of the damage.
