2024年 新着論文 11 生体機能学分野から論文が発表されました

Methylmercury-induced brain neuronal death in CHOP-knockout mice

J Toxicol Sci. 2024;49(2):55-60. doi: 10.2131/jts.49.55.

Authors

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Medicinal Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University.
  • 2 Department of Basic Medical Science, National Institute for Minamata Disease.
  • 3 Division of Molecular Biology, Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University.

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Abstract

Apoptosis is one of the hallmarks of MeHg-induced neuronal cell death; however, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. We previously reported that MeHg exposure induces neuron-specific ER stress in the mouse brain. Excessive ER stress contributes to apoptosis, and CHOP induction is considered to be one of the major mechanisms. CHOP is also increased by MeHg exposure in the mouse brain, suggesting that it correlates with increased apoptosis. In this study, to clarify whether CHOP mediates MeHg-induced apoptosis, we examined the effect of CHOP deletion on MeHg exposure in CHOP-knockout mice. Our data showed that CHOP deletion had no effect on MeHg exposure-induced weight loss or hindlimb impairment in mice, nor did it increase apoptosis or inhibit neuronal cell loss. Hence, CHOP plays little role in MeHg toxicity, and other apoptotic pathways coupled with ER stress may be involved in MeHg-induced cell death.

Keywords: Apoptosis; CHOP; Knockout mouse; Methylmercury; Neuronal cell death.

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