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Reaction of methyl mercury with plasmalogens suggests a mechanism for neurotoxicity of metal-alkyls

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Abstract

THE biosynthesis of methyl mercury from mercuric ion, by microorganisms which live in sediments polluted with mercury, is of special significance to the bio-accumulation of mercury1–3. Although the mechanism of methyl mercury biosynthesis is understood to a large extent at the molecular level4–6, very little is known about the mechanisms of molecular interaction in both the bio-accumulation and the neurotoxicity of this compound. It is clear that ingestion by humans of food contaminated by methyl mercury leads to the synthesis of methyl mercury chloride in the stomach, and this, being very non-polar, is easily transported into the blood stream7. The distribution of methyl mercury in animals is characteristically different from that of inorganic mercury, in that alkyl mercury compounds have a tendency to partition into the lipids, or hydrophobic regions of the cell8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Roger Adams Laboratory, School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801

    H. J. SEGALL & J. M. WOOD

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  1. H. J. SEGALL
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  2. J. M. WOOD
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SEGALL, H., WOOD, J. Reaction of methyl mercury with plasmalogens suggests a mechanism for neurotoxicity of metal-alkyls. Nature 248, 456–458 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/248456a0

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