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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Based Developmental Toxicity Assays for Chemical Safety Screening and Systems Biology Data Generation
Published on: June 17, 2015
Methylmercury neurotoxicity & antioxidant defenses
José Luiz M do Nascimento1, Karen Renata M Oliveira, Maria Elena Crespo-Lopez
1Lab. Neuroquímica Molecular e Celular, Dep. Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil. jlmn@ufpa.br
Abstract:
Neurotoxicity induced by methylmercury (MeHg) increases the formation of reactive radicals and accelerates free radical reactions. This review summarizes recent findings in the MeHg-induced formation of free radicals and the role of oxidative stress in its neurotoxicity. Oxidative stress on CNS can produce damage by several interacting mechanisms, including mitochondrial damage with increase in intracellular free Ca(2+), activation and inhibition of enzymes, release of excitatory amino acids, metallothioneins expression, and microtubule disassembly. The nature of antioxidants is discussed and it is suggested that antioxidant enzymes and others antioxidants molecules may protect the central nervous system against neurotoxicity caused by MeHg.
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