This study has dealt with the inhibition by lead of glutamine synthetase (GS) activity in homogenates of mixed glial primary cultures, 95% enriched in differentiating astrocytes. A 70% inhibition was observed with a lead concentration of only 2.5 microM. Prevention of the inhibition by addition of EDTA or dithiothreitol is compatible with the conclusion that the effect is mediated by binding of lead ion to sulfhydryl moieties of the enzyme. Among several other cations tested, only mercury, which has a similarly high binding affinity for sulfhydryl moieties, inhibited the enzyme. The inhibitory effect of lead was relatively specific, since no inhibition of another astrocytic marker enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase, of the oligodendroglial marker enzyme, 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase, or of the plasma membrane marker, Na,Ka-ATPase, was observed with concentrations of lead that produced a 70% decrease of GS. Because of the critical role of GS in regulation of extracellular glutamate, the findings raise the possibility that glutamate-induced neuronal injury is involved in the genesis of the cognitive defects associated with chronic low-level lead exposure in young children.