Mechanism of cytotoxicity of methylmercury. With special reference to microtubule disruption.

Mechanism of methylmercury cytotoxicity was investigated with special reference to its preferential action on microtubules and protein biosynthesis in cultured cells. The tubulin synthesis analyzed by autoradiography of two-dimensional electropherogram using 35S-methionine was inhibited by 50-70% in mouse glioma cells exposed to 5 x 10(-6) M methylmercury for 3 h, which almost completely depolymerized microtubules. Total protein synthesis monitored by incorporation of labeled methionine into acid insoluble fraction was decreased slightly but significantly and the protein bands other than tubulin on gradient urea-PAGE gel appeared to remain unchanged under the experimental condition used. These results suggest that the inhibition of protein synthesis observed on exposure to methylmercury can be ascribed, at least partly, to a possible autoregulatory depression in tubulin synthesis owing to the increase in the pool of tubulin subunits resulted from microtubule depolymerization by methylmercury.