Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 21, 80126 Naples, Italy.
Department of Precision Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via Luigi de Crecchio, 80138 Naples, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Feb 5;22(4):1618. doi: 10.3390/ijms22041618.
Mercury (Hg) is an environmental pollutant that impacts human and ecosystem health. In our previous works, we reported alterations in the properties of protamine-like (PL) proteins after 24 h of exposure to subtoxic doses of toxic metals such as copper and cadmium. The present work aims to assess the effects of 24 h of exposure to 1, 10, and 100 pM HgCl on spermatozoa and PL proteins of . Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry indicated accumulation of this metal in the gonads of exposed mussels. Further, RT-qPCR analyses showed altered expression levels of spermatozoa and genes. In , PL proteins represent the major basic component of sperm chromatin. These proteins, following exposure of mussels to HgCl, appeared, by SDS-PAGE, partly as aggregates and showed a decreased DNA-binding capacity that rendered them unable to prevent DNA damage, in the presence of CuCl and HO. These results demonstrate that even these doses of HgCl exposure could affect the properties of PL proteins and result in adverse effects on the reproductive system of this organism. These analyses could be useful in developing rapid and efficient chromatin-based genotoxicity assays for pollution biomonitoring programs.
汞（Hg）是一种环境污染物，会影响人类和生态系统的健康。在我们之前的工作中，我们报道了在暴露于亚毒性剂量的铜和镉等有毒金属 24 小时后，鱼精蛋白样（PL）蛋白的性质发生了改变。本研究旨在评估暴露于 1、10 和 100 pM HgCl24 小时对贻贝精子和 PL 蛋白的影响。电感耦合等离子体质谱法表明，这种金属在暴露贻贝的性腺中积累。此外，RT-qPCR 分析显示精子和基因的表达水平发生了改变。在贻贝中，PL 蛋白是精子染色质的主要碱性成分。这些蛋白在贻贝暴露于 HgCl2 后，通过 SDS-PAGE 显示部分为聚集体，并且 DNA 结合能力下降，使其无法在存在 CuCl 和 HO 的情况下防止 DNA 损伤。这些结果表明，即使是这些剂量的 HgCl2 暴露也可能影响 PL 蛋白的性质，并对该生物的生殖系统产生不利影响。这些分析可用于开发用于污染生物监测计划的快速有效的基于染色质的遗传毒性测定。
