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Inorganic mercury changes the fate of murine CNS stem cells
Author(s) -
Cedrola Sabrina,
Guzzi GianPaolo,
Ferrari Daniela,
Gritti Angela,
Vescovi Angelo L.,
Pendergrass James C.,
La Porta Caterina A. M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.02-0491fje
Subject(s) - neural stem cell , stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , embryonic stem cell , population , epigenetics , mercury (programming language) , cellular differentiation , neuron , chemistry , neuroscience , biochemistry , medicine , computer science , programming language , environmental health , gene
Stem cells isolated from the central nervous system of both embryonic and adult mice can generate neurons and glia through the activation of different patterns of differentiation in dependence of exposure to appropriate epigenetic signals. On the other hand, environmental conditions might affect the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of these cells. We report here, for the first time, that inorganic mercury affects the proliferative and differentiative capacity of adult neuronal stem cells (ANSCs). Actually, inorganic mercury increases apoptosis in ASNC. Furthermore, in stem cell‐derived astrocytes, high levels of the 70 kDa heat shock protein (HSP‐70) occur, while the levels of GTP‐β‐tubulin activity dramatically decrease. Interestingly, when induced to differentiate, inorganic mercury modifies morphological proprieties of astrocytes, while the neuron population is reduced. These results demonstrate that inorganic mercury produces toxicity in the ANSC‐derived neuronal population and affects the biological properties of the glial‐derived population.