An experimental investigation of the “ring hypothesis” of arsenical toxicity
V. P. Whittaker · Biochemical Journal · 1947
Earlier papers in this series (Stocken & Thompson, 1946a, b) described the development between 1940 and 1942 of British Anti-Lewisite (BAL) as an antidote for arsenical poisoning.It is now believed that the most important way in which the toxic arsenicals interfere with the normal life of the cell is by inhibiting an essential stage, that of pyruvate oxidation, in the series of chemical reactions by which it is supplied with energy (Peters, Sinclair & Thompson, 1946).The subsequent discovery (Stocken & Thompson, 1946a) that the arsenical protein formed by the interaction of lewisite and kerateine contains over 70 % of its arsenic in combination with sulphur in the ratio of lAs: 2S,