Sub-cellular location of mercury in yeast grown in the presence of mercuric chloride.
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The distribution of 203Hg in Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown in the presence of mercuric chloride has been examined by physical and chemical fractionation procedures and autoradiography. The major fraction of the bound mercury is tightly bound to the wall. A significant quantity of mercury penetrates to the cytoplasm but only a minor fraction is present as low molecular weight components. The wall associated mercury is not readily released by extraction with sodium hydroxide or ethylenediamine but a major fraction is solubilized by pronase and Helicase treatment. Isolated walls are capable of binding their own weight of mercury to high-affinity adsorption sites. The major role of the cell envelope in the in vivo binding of mercury and the penetration to the cytoplasm of mercury was confirmed by autoradiography. (+info)
Sterically demanding multidentate ligand tris[(2-(6-methylpyridyl))methyl]amine slows exchange and enhances solution state ligand proton NMR coupling to (199)Hg(II).
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The solution state coordination chemistry of Hg(ClO(4))(2) with tris[(2-(6-methylpyridyl))methyl]amine (TLA) was investigated in acetonitrile-d(3) by proton NMR. Although Hg(II) is a d(10) metal ion commonly associated with notoriously rapid exchange between coordination environments, as many as six ligand environments were observed to be in slow exchange on the chemical shift time scale at select metal-to-ligand ratios. One of these ligand environments was associated with extensive heteronuclear coupling between protons and (199)Hg and was assigned to the complex [Hg(TLA)](2+). The (5)J((1)H(199)Hg) = 8 Hz associated with this complex is the first example of five-bond coupling in a nitrogen coordination compound of Hg(II). The spectral complexity of related studies conducted in acetone-d(6) precluded analysis of coordination equilibria. Crystallographic characterization of the T-shaped complex [Hg(TLAH)(CH(2)COCH(3))](ClO(4))(2) (1) in which two pyridyl rings are pendant suggested that the acidity of acetone combined with the poor coordinating abilities of the neutral solvent adds additional complexity to solution equilibria. The complex crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 macro with a = 9.352(2) A, b = 12.956(2) A, c = 14.199(2) A, alpha = 115.458(10) degrees, beta = 90.286(11) degrees, gamma = 108.445(11) degrees, and Z = 2. The Hg-N(amine), Hg-N(pyridyl), and Hg-C bond lengths in the complex are 2.614(4), 2.159(4), and 2.080(6) A, respectively. Relevance to development of (199)Hg NMR as a metallobioprobe is discussed. (+info)
Human renal organic anion transporter 1-dependent uptake and toxicity of mercuric-thiol conjugates in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells.
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Mercuric ions are highly reactive and form a variety of organic complexes or conjugates in vivo. The renal proximal tubule is a primary target for mercury uptake and toxicity, and circumstantial evidence implicates organic anion transporters in these processes. To test this hypothesis directly, the transport and toxicity of mercuric-thiol conjugates were characterized in a Madin-Darby canine kidney cell line stably transfected with the human organic anion transporter 1 (hOAT1). 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-terazolium bromide assays (for mitochondrial dehydrogenase) confirmed that mercuric conjugates of the thiols N-acetylcysteine (NAC), cysteine, or glutathione were more toxic in hOAT1-transfected cells than in the nontransfected cells. The NAC-Hg(2+) conjugate was most cytotoxic, inducing greater than 50% cellular death over 18 h at a concentration of 100 microM. The cytotoxic effects were fully reversed by probenecid (an OAT1 inhibitor) and partially reversed by p-aminohippurate (an OAT1 substrate). Toxicity of this conjugate was reduced by the OAT1-exchangeable dicarboxylates alpha-ketoglutarate, glutarate, and adipate, but not by succinate, a nonexchangeable dicarboxylate. (203)Hg-uptake studies showed probenecid-sensitive uptake of mercury-thiol conjugates in the hOAT1-transfected cells. The apparent K(m) for the NAC-Hg(2+) conjugate was 44 +/- 9 microM. Uptake of the NAC-Hg(2+) conjugate was cis-inhibited by glutarate, but not by methylsuccinate, paralleling their effects on toxicity. Probenecid-sensitive transport of the NAC-Hg(2+) conjugate was also shown to occur in Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing the hOAT1 or the rOAT3 transporters, suggesting that OAT3 may also transport thiol-Hg(2+) conjugates. Thus, renal accumulation and toxicity of thiol-Hg(2+) conjugates may depend in part on the activity of the organic transport system. (+info)
Inter-individual variations of human mercury exposure biomarkers: a cross-sectional assessment.
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BACKGROUND: Biomarkers for mercury (Hg) exposure have frequently been used to assess exposure and risk in various groups of the general population. We have evaluated the most frequently used biomarkers and the physiology on which they are based, to explore the inter-individual variations and their suitability for exposure assessment. METHODS: Concentrations of total Hg (THg), inorganic Hg (IHg) and organic Hg (OHg, assumed to be methylmercury; MeHg) were determined in whole blood, red blood cells, plasma, hair and urine from Swedish men and women. An automated multiple injection cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry analytical system for Hg analysis was developed, which provided high sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. The distribution of the various mercury forms in the different biological media was explored. RESULTS: About 90% of the mercury found in the red blood cells was in the form of MeHg with small inter-individual variations, and part of the IHg found in the red blood cells could be attributed to demethylated MeHg. THg in plasma was associated with both IHg and MeHg, with large inter-individual variations in the distribution between red blood cells and plasma. THg in hair reflects MeHg exposure at all exposure levels, and not IHg exposure. The small fraction of IHg in hair is most probably emanating from demethylated MeHg. The inter-individual variation in the blood to hair ratio was very large. The variability seemed to decrease with increasing OHg in blood, most probably due to more frequent fish consumption and thereby blood concentrations approaching steady state. THg in urine reflected IHg exposure, also at very low IHg exposure levels. CONCLUSION: The use of THg concentration in whole blood as a proxy for MeHg exposure will give rise to an overestimation of the MeHg exposure depending on the degree of IHg exposure, why speciation of mercury forms is needed. THg in RBC and hair are suitable proxies for MeHg exposure. Using THg concentration in plasma as a measure of IHg exposure can lead to significant exposure misclassification. THg in urine is a suitable proxy for IHg exposure. (+info)
Whole-ecosystem study shows rapid fish-mercury response to changes in mercury deposition.
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Methylmercury contamination of fisheries from centuries of industrial atmospheric emissions negatively impacts humans and wildlife worldwide. The response of fish methylmercury concentrations to changes in mercury deposition has been difficult to establish because sediments/soils contain large pools of historical contamination, and many factors in addition to deposition affect fish mercury. To test directly the response of fish contamination to changing mercury deposition, we conducted a whole-ecosystem experiment, increasing the mercury load to a lake and its watershed by the addition of enriched stable mercury isotopes. The isotopes allowed us to distinguish between experimentally applied mercury and mercury already present in the ecosystem and to examine bioaccumulation of mercury deposited to different parts of the watershed. Fish methylmercury concentrations responded rapidly to changes in mercury deposition over the first 3 years of study. Essentially all of the increase in fish methylmercury concentrations came from mercury deposited directly to the lake surface. In contrast, <1% of the mercury isotope deposited to the watershed was exported to the lake. Steady state was not reached within 3 years. Lake mercury isotope concentrations were still rising in lake biota, and watershed mercury isotope exports to the lake were increasing slowly. Therefore, we predict that mercury emissions reductions will yield rapid (years) reductions in fish methylmercury concentrations and will yield concomitant reductions in risk. However, a full response will be delayed by the gradual export of mercury stored in watersheds. The rate of response will vary among lakes depending on the relative surface areas of water and watershed. (+info)
Isotopic variability of mercury in ore, mine-waste calcine, and leachates of mine-waste calcine from areas mined for mercury.
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The isotopic composition of mercury (Hg) was determined in cinnabar ore, mine-waste calcine (retorted ore), and leachates obtained from water leaching experiments of calcine from two large Hg mining districts in the U.S. This study is the first to report significant mass-dependent Hg isotopic fractionation between cinnabar ore and resultant calcine. Data indicate that delta202Hg values relative to NIST 3133 of calcine (up to 1.52 per thousand) in the Terlingua district, Texas, are as much as 3.24 per thousand heavier than cinnabar (-1.72 per thousand) prior to retorting. In addition, delta202Hg values obtained from leachates of Terlingua district calcines are isotopically similar to, or as much as 1.17 per thousand heavier than associated calcines, most likely due to leaching of soluble, byproduct Hg compounds formed during ore retorting that are a minor component in the calcines. As a result of the large fractionation found between cinnabar and calcine, and because calcine is the dominant source of Hg contamination from the mines studied, delta202Hg values of calcine may be more environmentally important in these mined areas than the primary cinnabar ore. Measurement of the Hg isotopic composition of calcine is necessary when using Hg isotopes for tracing Hg sources from areas mined for Hg, especially mine water runoff. (+info)
Discovering mercury protein modifications in whole proteomes using natural isotope distributions observed in liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
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The synthesis and enzymatic polymerization of nucleotides containing mercury: potential tools for nucleic acid sequencing and structural analysis.
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A simple acetoxymercuration reaction for introducing covalently bound mercury atoms into nucleotides is described. The 5-mercuriacetate derivatives of UTP, CTP, dUTP, and dCTP, as well as the 7-mercuriacetate derivative of 7-deazaATP, have been prepared by this procedure and tested as substrates for nucleic acid polymerases. These nucleotides, in the absence of added mercaptan, are not polymerized and in most instances are potent enzyme inhibitors. However, conversion of these mercuriacetates to mercurithio compounds in situ by the addition of one of various mercaptans, yields nucleoside triphosphates that are excellent substrates for all polymerases tested: Escherichia coli and T7 RNA polymerases, DNA polymerase I of E. coli, DNA polymerase of avian myeloblastosis virus, and calf-thymus terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. By varying the mercaptan used to promote syntheses it is possible to access certain structural limitations in the enzyme's nucleoside triphosphate binding site. These mercurinucleotides appear to have a diversity of potential applications: (1) as heavy-atom reagents for crystallographic and microscopic studies; (2) as affinity probes for enzymes sensitive to sulfhydryl modification; (3) as steric probes of substrate-binding sites on enzymes; and (4) as reagents for forming covalent protein-polynucleotide complexes. (+info)