title: Global chemokine expression in methylmercury-treated mice: methylmercury induces brain-specific expression of CCL3 and CCL4.
abstract: We previously reported that methylmercury induces brain-specific upregulation of a chemokine gene, the CCL4 gene. In this study, we investigated the changes in gene expression levels of all chemokines in various tissues (cerebellum, cerebrum, kidney, liver, and spleen) of methylmercury-treated mice. We found that methylmercury induced upregulation of the CCL4 gene and the CCL3 gene, in a brain-specific manner. This finding suggests that upregulation of these two chemokine genes mediates selective damage by methylmercury in the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Biochemical Toxicology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University.
authors.forename: Min-Seok
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Jin-Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Gi-Wook
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naganuma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D054405:Chemokine CCL3 / Q000235:genetics*; D054407:Chemokine CCL4 / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C004925:methylmercuric chloride