Mercury toxicity: interactions with nutrients

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant and there is strong evidence that the emission, in particular from coal burning power plant, will increase by 50% in 2050. Hg is a known neurotoxicant and can have adverse effects on the health of fish, wildlife and human populations in different ecosystems around the world. The over arching goal of our research program is to understand the mechanisms of the adverse effects of environmental contaminants such as Hg and to develop biomarkers to assess their effects on ecosystem health. There is increasing evidence from ecological and epidemiological studies that nutrients such as selenium (Se) and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can modulate the toxicity of Hg. The objectives of this five year program are to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of the interactive effects of Hg, Se and PUFAs and to evaluate the physiological and ecological consequences of these effects. The excellent facilities and collaborations provided by the University of Ottawa will allow me to use: 1) the state-of-the-art methods to study the nutrient-Hg interactions in different tissues and 2) proteonomic techniques to study the mechanisms of toxicity We will conduct laboratory based studies to investigate the molecular mechanism of nutrient and Hg interactions. Our approach of studying the same endpoints in keystone mammalian species (including human) is novel and relevant. We also have the capacity to use the findings from cutting-edge basic experiments for applied wildlife and epidemiological studies. Our results will be used to establish thresholds for ecosystem health management purposes.