Mercury speciation and mercury-binding protein study by HPLC-ICP-MS on the estimation of mercury toxicity between maternal and infant rats

Feng Weiyue, Wang Meng, Guan Ming, Hui Yuan, Shi Junwen, Wang Bing, Zhu Motao, Ouyang Hong, Zhao Yuliang, Chai Zhifang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

A comparative study of methylmercury (MeHg) metabolism and its conversion into inorganic mercury (I-Hg) in organic tissues (brain, liver and kidney) and the subcellular fractions (nucleus, mitochondrion, lysosome, microsome and cytosol) of maternal and infant rats after infant in utero and lactational exposure to methylmercury was achieved by extraction preconcentration with HPLC-ICP-MS determination. The quantification of Hg-containing proteins in brain cytosol was studied by HPLC hyphenated on-line isotope dilution ICP-MS and the proteins were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF-MS. The results demonstrated that the methods could be successfully used in the study of mercury species in sub-compartments of organ cells. The study showed that the distribution patterns of MeHg and I-Hg in the levels of organs, the subcellular fractions of organs and proteins are all significantly different between mothers and their offspring, indicating their significantly different metabolism, transportation and accumulation behavior of mercury species, which may be all involved in the toxic mechanism of mercury for adults and young children.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)156-164
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Spectroscopy

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