Role of reactive sulfur species as a key molecule to diminish toxicity of methylmercury in mice

• Project/Area Number: 16K18919
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental and hygienic pharmacy
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Akiyama Masahiro 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 助教 (60754570)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
• Keywords: メチル水銀 / 活性イオウ分子 / 低濃度曝露

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an environmental electrophile that readily modifies protein thiols, causing toxicity. MeHg is inactivated by sulfur nucleophiles such as cysteine (CysSH), glutathione (GSH) and its related reactive persulfides (RSS) through the formation of GSH adduct (MeHg-SG) and bismethylmercury sulfide ((MeHg)2S), respectively. Cystathionine g-lyase (CSE) catalyzes production of CysSH and RSS. Previously, we revealed that CSE deletion in mice caused decreased levels of sulfur nucleophiles including GSH and RSS due to the disruption of CysSH metabolism, resulting in increased sensitivity to MeHg

Research Products

• [Presentation] Cystathionine Gamma-Lyase Is a Key Protein Repressing Methylmercury Poisoning Symptoms in Mice (2018)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: Society of Toxicology’s 57th Annual Meeting
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] CSE欠損による親電子ストレスに対する感受性増強とCSE高発現による還元ストレスに対する生体応答 (2017)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: フォーラム2017 衛生薬学・環境トキシコロジー
• [Presentation] メチル水銀毒性制御における求核低分子の役割 (2017)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: メチル水銀研究ミーティング
• [Presentation] システイン代謝酵素によるメチル水銀毒性制御に関する研究 (2016)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: メチル水銀研究ミーティング
  • Place of Presentation: 東京都 LMJ東京研修センター
  • Year and Date: 2016-12-26
• [Presentation] Cystathionine gamma-lyaseはメチル水銀中毒症状を抑制する鍵分子である (2016)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: フォーラム2016 衛生薬学・環境トキシコロジー
  • Place of Presentation: 東京都 昭和大学旗の台キャンパス
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-10
• [Presentation] システイン代謝酵素によるレドックス制御とメチル水銀毒性との関係」 (2016)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: 生体と金属・化学物質に関する研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 宮城県仙台市 一の坊
  • Year and Date: 2016-08-25
• [Presentation] メチル水銀曝露による健康リスクを制御する活性イオウ分子の役割 (2016)
  • Author(s): 秋山雅博
  • Organizer: 日本毒性学会学術年会
  • Place of Presentation: 愛知県名古屋市 ウインクあいち
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-29
• [Presentation] Role of reactive sulfur species as a key molecule to diminish toxicity of the environmental electrophile in mice (2016)
  • Author(s): 秋山 雅博
  • Organizer: 国際NO学会
  • Place of Presentation: 宮城県仙台市 仙台国際センター
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-20
  • Int'l Joint Research