The interaction of methylmercury with lysosomes from rat liver

The interactions of methylmercury with rat liver lysosomes were investigated. The results indicate that methylmercury enhances the proton permeability in membranes. Since this uncoupling mechanism necessarily implies the transport of a charged ion (in this case CH3Hg+) through the membrane, this fact can help to explain why a preferential target of methylmercury are nerve cells, whose plasma membrane potential has the highest value, when compared with other cells.