Environmental chemical blocks cell function

Environmental chemical Bisphenol A blocks cell function

19/12/2012

Bisphenol A, which is used in many plastic products, has been suspected for many years to have harmful effects. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now demonstrated in experiments on tissue samples from mice and humans that the environmental chemical blocks the calcium channels in the cell membranes.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate resins and resins. „According to recent findings, the substance can influence the hormone balance and affect enzymes and transport proteins in their function“, reports Prof. Dr. med. Dieter Swandulla from the University of Bonn. The substance is associated with heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer and neurological disorders.

Bisphenol A blocks important calcium channels
The research team has now discovered that BPA reversibly blocks important calcium channels in the cell membrane for cell function. Through these pore-like so-called channel proteins, the calcium flows into the living cells, which are controlled, for example, the contraction of heart muscle cells, the activity of enzymes and the communication of the nerve cells with each other. Since the binding of bisphenol A to the calcium channel is reversible, there is at least the possibility that the chemical is excreted by the body again.

Chemical ubiquitous
However, bisphenol A and related substances are meanwhile measurable almost everywhere in the environment: e.g. in CD's, banknotes, shopping slips, tin cans, fillings and flame retardants, but also in the air and house dust. „It would therefore be desirable to completely stop the production of BPA“, says Prof. Swandulla. Source: Bisphenol A inhibits voltage-activated Ca2 + channels in vitro: mechanisms and structural requirements, „Molecular Pharmacology“, DOI: 10.1124 / mol.112.081372. (BDH)

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Picture credits: Rolf van Melis /Pixelio.de.