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ToxSci Advance Access published online on February 16, 2005
Toxicological Sciences, doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfi114
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Toxicological Sciences © The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received July 7, 2004
Accepted August 31, 2004

Neurotoxicology

SELENIUM COMPOUNDS PREVENT THE EFFECTS OF METHYLMERCURY ON THE IN VITRO PHOSPHORYLATION OF CYTOSKELETAL PROTEINS IN CEREBRAL CORTEX OF YOUNG RATS

MB Moretto 1, C Funchal 1, G Zeni 2, R Pessoa-Pureur 1, and JBT Rocha 2*

1 Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil
2 Departamento de Química, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
JBT Rocha, E-mail: jbtrocha{at}yahoo.com.br


  Abstract

In this study we investigated the protective ability of the selenium compounds ebselen and diphenyldiselenide against the effect of methylmercury on the in vitro incorporation of 32P into intermediate filament (IF) proteins from the cerebral cortex of 17-day-old rats. We observed that methylmercury in the concentrations of 1 and 5 µM was able to inhibit the phosphorylating system associated with IF proteins without altering the immunocontent of these proteins. Concerning the selenium compounds, diselenide (1, 15 and 50 µM) did not induce alteration of the in vitro phosphorylation of IF proteins. Conversely 15 µM diselenide was effective in preventing the toxic effects induced by methylmercury. Otherwise, ebselen induced an altered in vitro phosphorylation of the cytoskeletal proteins in a dose-dependent manner. Ebselen at intermediate concentrations (15 and 30 µM) increased the in vitro phosphorylation. Though, at low (5 µM) or high (50 and 100 µM) concentrations it was ineffective in altering the cytoskeletal-associated with phosphorylating system. Furthermore, 5 µM ebselen presented a protective effect against the action of methylmercury on the phosphorylating system. In conclusion, our results indicate that the selenium compounds ebselen and diselenide present protective actions toward the alterations of the phosphorylating system associated with the IF proteins induced by methylmercury in slices of the cerebral cortex of rats.

Keywords: organochalcogens; methylmercury; intermediate filaments; phosphorylation; neuroprotection.
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