Fetal Exposure of low dose Methylmercury Enhances CREB Activity to Induce Premature Neuronal Differentiation During Embryonic Cortex Development

Methylmercury is a bioaccumulated environmental neurotoxicant, however, it remains largely unknown regarding impacts of non-apoptotic low dose methylmercury on embryonic cerebral cortex development. Here, using single cell RNA-seq analysis we show that prenatal exposure of MeHg favors RGP developmental trajectory towards directly producing cortical neurons, omitting intermediate progenitor stage. Our findings reveal the outcomes of low dose MeHg exposure on the fetal brain development and provide insights into its underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategy. We analyzed isolated the cerebral cortices obtained from two experimental replicates of E15 CD1 mice treated with either 0ppm (control) and 0.2ppm MeHg treated drinking water