Study: Thimerosal induces neuronal cell death

"Thimerosal Induces Neuronal Cell Apoptosis By Causing Cytochrome C AndApoptosis-Inducing Factor Release From Mitochondria"

International Journal of Molecular Medicine 2005 Dec;16(6):971-7.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed

Yel L, Brown LE, Su K, Gollapudi S, Gupta S.
Immunology/Medicine, C240 Med Sci I, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. lyel@uci.edu.

There is a worldwide increasing concern over the neurological risks of thimerosal (ethylmercury thiosalicylate) which is an organic mercury compound that is commonly used as an antimicrobial preservative. In this study, we show that thimerosal, at nanomolar concentrations, induces neuronal cell death through the mitochondrial pathway. Thimerosal, in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, decreased cell viability as assessed by calcein-ethidium staining and caused apoptosis detected by Hoechst 33258 dye.

Thimerosal-induced apoptosis was associated with depolarization of mitochondrial membrane, generation of reactive oxygen species, and release of cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from mitochondria tocytosol.

Although thimerosal did not affect cellular expression of Bax at the protein level, we observed translocation of Bax from cytosol to mitochondria. Finally, caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated in the absence of caspase-8 activation. Our data suggest that thimerosal causes apoptosisin neuroblastoma cells by changing the mitochondrial microenvironment.

PMID: 16273274 [PubMed - in process]

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