State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science/Environmental Science Research Center, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
Aquat Toxicol. 2011 Jun;103(3-4):129-39. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2011.02.020. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
Mercury is a widespread and persistent pollutant occurring in a variety of forms in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Using the proteomic approach, this study examined the protein profiles of the medaka (Oryzias melastigma) liver and brain exposed to an acute mercuric chloride (HgCl(2)) concentration (1000μg/L) for 8h. The results showed that acute exposure of medaka to inorganic mercury enhanced metal accumulation in both the liver and brain, and a higher content of mercury was detected in the latter. Comparison of the two-dimensional electrophoresis protein profiles of HgCl(2)-exposed and non-exposed group revealed that altered protein expression was quantitatively detected in 20 spots in the brain and 27 in the liver. The altered protein spots were subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis, with the resultant identification of 46 proteins. The proteins identified were involved in oxidative stress, cytoskeletonal assembly, signal transduction, protein modification, metabolism and other related functions (e.g. immune response, ionoregulation and transporting), highlighting the fact that inorganic mercury toxicity in fish seems to be complex and diverse. This study provided basic information to aid our understanding of the possible molecular mechanisms of acute inorganic mercury toxicity in aquatic organisms, as well as potential protein biomarker candidates for aquatic environmental monitoring.
汞是一种广泛存在且具有持久性的污染物，以多种形式存在于淡水和海洋生态系统中。本研究采用蛋白质组学方法，研究了暴露于高浓度氯化汞（1000μg/L） 8 小时后，泥鳅（Oryzias melastigma）肝脏和大脑的蛋白质图谱。结果表明，无机汞急性暴露会增强泥鳅肝脏和大脑中的金属积累，且后者的汞含量更高。比较暴露于氯化汞和未暴露于氯化汞的两组的二维电泳蛋白质图谱，发现大脑中有 20 个点和肝脏中有 27 个点的蛋白质表达发生了定量变化。对这些变化的蛋白质点进行基质辅助激光解吸/电离串联飞行时间质谱分析，鉴定出 46 种蛋白质。鉴定出的蛋白质参与氧化应激、细胞骨架组装、信号转导、蛋白质修饰、代谢和其他相关功能（如免疫反应、离子调节和转运），这突出表明鱼类的无机汞毒性似乎是复杂多样的。本研究为我们理解水生生物急性无机汞毒性的可能分子机制提供了基础信息，并为水生环境监测提供了潜在的蛋白质生物标志物候选物。
