Diverse Toxic Chemicals Disrupt Cell Function through a Common Path

Liza Gross

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050041

Abstract

Diverse Toxic Chemicals Disrupt Cell Function through a Common Path

Highlights

When technological advances in the 1930s provided the means to synthesize chemicals from petroleum and natural gas, the petrochemical industry ramped up production of diverse species of novel compounds without testing their safety
When mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants settles in wetlands or bodies of water, bacteria living in sediments transforms it into methylmercury—which is toxic to the developing brain. (Photo: National Parks Service) an organochlorine herbicide, paraquat. They found that each toxicant disrupted normal cell function by making cells more oxidized, and setting off a chain reaction that inhibited signaling pathways required for cell division
oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are suited to toxicant screening, the authors explain, because of their sensitivity to small changes in oxidative state, which determines whether the cells divide or differentiate. (When a cell or molecule undergoes an increase in oxidation state, it is oxidized; when it undergoes a decrease, it is reduced.) Previous studies by these authors have shown that redox changes in the range of 15%–20% can greatly alter responsiveness to extracellular signaling molecules, and that such changes may help regulate the normal development of these cells

Summary

Introduction

When technological advances in the 1930s provided the means to synthesize chemicals from petroleum and natural gas, the petrochemical industry ramped up production of diverse species of novel compounds without testing their safety. Zaibo Li and colleagues provide evidence for a novel general principle of toxicology by showing that toxicants with different chemical properties converge on activation of the same regulatory pathway with similar results. The authors monitored the response of progenitor cells isolated from the developing central nervous system to two metal toxicants, methylmercury and lead, and doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050041.g001

Results

Conclusion