4.5 Article

Developmental mercury exposure elicits acute hippocampal cell death, reductions in neurogenesis, and severe learning deficits during puberty

Journal

JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
Volume 103, Issue 5, Pages 1968-1981

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2007.04882.x

Keywords

cell cycle; hippocampus; learning; methylmercury; neurogenesis; programmed cell death

Funding

  1. NIEHS NIH HHS [ES11256, P01 ES011256, P30 ES005022, T32 ES007148] Funding Source: Medline
  2. NIMH NIH HHS [R01 MH059970-07, R01 MH059970, R01 MH059970-05, R01 MH059970-06] Funding Source: Medline

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Normal brain development requires coordinated regulation of several processes including proliferation, differentiation, and cell death. Multiple factors from endogenous and exogenous sources interact to elicit positive as well as negative regulation of these processes. In particular, the perinatal rat brain is highly vulnerable to specific developmental insults that produce later cognitive abnormalities. We used this model to examine the developmental effects of an exogenous factor of great concern, methylmercury (MeHg). Seven-day-old rats received a single injection of MeHg (5 mu g/gbw). MeHg inhibited DNA synthesis by 44% and reduced levels of cyclins D1, D3, and E at 24 h in the hippocampus, but not the cerebellum. Toxicity was associated acutely with caspase-dependent programmed cell death. MeHg exposure led to reductions in hippocampal size (21%) and cell numbers 2 weeks later, especially in the granule cell layer (16%) and hilus (50%) of the dentate gyrus defined stereologically, suggesting that neurons might be particularly vulnerable. Consistent with this, perinatal exposure led to profound deficits in juvenile hippocampal-dependent learning during training on a spatial navigation task. In aggregate, these studies indicate that exposure to one dose of MeHg during the perinatal period acutely induces apoptotic cell death, which results in later deficits in hippocampal structure and function.

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