Maternal methylmercury exposure changes the proteomic profile of the offspring's salivary glands: Prospects on translational toxicology

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 11; p. e0258969
• Main Authors: Cunha Nascimento, Priscila, Alana Bragança Aragão, Walessa, Oliveira Bittencourt, Leonardo, Dionizio, Aline, A R Buzalaf, Marilia, Crespo-Lopez, Maria Elena, Lima, Rafael Rodrigues
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08-11-2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Contaminants; Cytoskeleton; Dentistry; Dimethylmercury; Exocrine glands; Exposure; Female; Health aspects; Homogenization; Humans; Intoxication; Laboratory animals; Lactation; Lactation - drug effects; Male; Mass Spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Maternal Exposure - prevention & control; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mercury (metal); Methylmercury; Methylmercury Compounds - toxicity; Morphogenesis; Morphogenesis - drug effects; Offspring; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - chemically induced; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - genetics; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - pathology; Properties; Proteins; Proteome - drug effects; Proteome - genetics; Public health; Rats; Salivary gland; Salivary glands; Salivary Glands - drug effects; Salivary Glands - metabolism; Sample size; Submandibular gland; Toxicology; Brazil; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258969

Methylmercury (MeHg) remains a public health issue since developing organisms are particularly vulnerable to this environmental contaminant. This study investigated the effect of maternal MeHg exposure on the modulation of proteomic profile of parotid (PA), submandibular (SM), and sublingual (SL) glands of offspring rats.
Pregnant Wistar rats were daily exposed to 40 μg/kg MeHg during both gestational and lactation periods. The proteomic profiles of the major salivary glands of the offspring rats were analyzed through mass spectrometry.
The offspring rats exposed to MeHg showed significant alterations in the proteomic profiles of the PA, SM, and SL glands. Altered proteins were associated with cytoskeleton components, tissue morphogenesis, and response to stimulus and stress.
This original study showed that maternal MeHg exposure significantly modulates the expression of proteins and induces alterations in the proteomic profiles of developing salivary glands.