What is it about?
Although humans are exposed to the organomercurials methylmercury, thimerosal and/or phenylmercuric acetate, their biochemical fate in the bloodstream-organ system is incompletely understood. To gain insight, the binding of these organomercurials to possible binding proteins was investigated using ESI-MS. The results revealed that each of these organomercurials or their mercury-containing breakdown products formed adducts with carbonic anhydrase I (CAI), superoxide dismutase (SOD), human serum albumin (HSA) and a dodecapeptide (dhTrxR) owing to their selectivity to react with cysteine moieties (CAI, SOD, HSA) or thiol/selenol moieties (dhTrxR).
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Why is it important?
Various human populations are chronically exposed to environmental populations, but the biochemical mechanisms that are associated with this chronic exposure are poorly understood. The results provide insight into the possible adduct formation of these organomercurials with endogenous biomolecular targets to better understand their toxicological chemistry.
Perspectives
The exposure of vulnerable human populations including babies, children and pregnant women to different mercury compounds which unfold in the bloodstream-organ system is critical to better understand and define the exposure-response relationship.
Dr Juergen Gailer
University of Calgary
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Mercury binding to proteins disclosed by ESI MS experiments: The case of three organomercurials, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, January 2024, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2024.112479.
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