Abstract
The effects of methylmercury on dissociated embryonic chick retinal cell aggregationin vitro were determined. A temporal induction of glutamine synthetase (GS) associated with the retinal cell aggregation and other selected cellular enzymes,e.g., K+-dependent phosphatase (K+DP), alkaline phosphatase (AP), phosphodiesterase (PD) and succinic dehydrogenase (SD) were chosen as biochemical markers to investigate the cytotoxicity of methylmercury on this system. Methylmercury at the 1 to 5ΜM concentration in 48 hr rotational cultures markedly decreased the specific activity of GS in aggregates. Methylmercury at 5 to 10ΜM also inhibited the cell aggregation phenomenon. Specific activities of K+DP, AP, PD, and SD in aggregates decreased at higher concentrations of methylmercury (10 to 100ΜM). The enzyme activity of retinal tissue cultured with methylmercury for 48 hr was not as low as that of similarly treated aggregates. Direct inhibitions of GS and K+DP required 50 to 100ΜM of methylmercury. Alkaline phosphatase, PD and, SD were not significantly inhibited by similar concentrations of methylmercury. It was concluded that lower concentrations of methylmercury may be potent inhibitors of GS induction and the retinal cell histotypic aggregation, which is related to characteristic development of embryonic chick neural retina.
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