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Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace nutrient required for optimal human health. It has long been suggested that selenium has anti-cancer properties. However, clinical trials have shown inconclusive results on the potential of Se to prevent cancer. The suggested role of Se in the prevention of cancer...

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Autores principales: Stolwijk, Jeffrey M., Garje, Rohan, Sieren, Jessica C., Buettner, Garry R., Zakharia, Yousef
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7278812/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32414091
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox9050420
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author Stolwijk, Jeffrey M.
Garje, Rohan
Sieren, Jessica C.
Buettner, Garry R.
Zakharia, Yousef
author_facet Stolwijk, Jeffrey M.
Garje, Rohan
Sieren, Jessica C.
Buettner, Garry R.
Zakharia, Yousef
author_sort Stolwijk, Jeffrey M.
collection PubMed
description Selenium (Se) is an essential trace nutrient required for optimal human health. It has long been suggested that selenium has anti-cancer properties. However, clinical trials have shown inconclusive results on the potential of Se to prevent cancer. The suggested role of Se in the prevention of cancer is centered around its role as an antioxidant. Recently, the potential of selenium as a drug rather than a supplement has been uncovered. Selenium compounds can generate reactive oxygen species that could enhance the treatment of cancer. Transformed cells have high oxidative distress. As normal cells have a greater capacity to meet oxidative challenges than tumor cells, increasing the flux of oxidants with high dose selenium treatment could result in cancer-specific cell killing. If the availability of Se is limited, supplementation of Se can increase the expression and activities of Se-dependent proteins and enzymes. In cell culture, selenium deficiency is often overlooked. We review the importance of achieving normal selenium biology and how Se deficiency can lead to adverse effects. We examine the vital role of selenium in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Finally, we examine the properties of Se-compounds to better understand how each can be used to address different research questions.
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spelling pubmed-72788122020-06-12 Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies Stolwijk, Jeffrey M. Garje, Rohan Sieren, Jessica C. Buettner, Garry R. Zakharia, Yousef Antioxidants (Basel) Review Selenium (Se) is an essential trace nutrient required for optimal human health. It has long been suggested that selenium has anti-cancer properties. However, clinical trials have shown inconclusive results on the potential of Se to prevent cancer. The suggested role of Se in the prevention of cancer is centered around its role as an antioxidant. Recently, the potential of selenium as a drug rather than a supplement has been uncovered. Selenium compounds can generate reactive oxygen species that could enhance the treatment of cancer. Transformed cells have high oxidative distress. As normal cells have a greater capacity to meet oxidative challenges than tumor cells, increasing the flux of oxidants with high dose selenium treatment could result in cancer-specific cell killing. If the availability of Se is limited, supplementation of Se can increase the expression and activities of Se-dependent proteins and enzymes. In cell culture, selenium deficiency is often overlooked. We review the importance of achieving normal selenium biology and how Se deficiency can lead to adverse effects. We examine the vital role of selenium in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Finally, we examine the properties of Se-compounds to better understand how each can be used to address different research questions. MDPI 2020-05-13 /pmc/articles/PMC7278812/ /pubmed/32414091 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox9050420 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Stolwijk, Jeffrey M.
Garje, Rohan
Sieren, Jessica C.
Buettner, Garry R.
Zakharia, Yousef
Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies
title Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies
title_full Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies
title_fullStr Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies
title_short Understanding the Redox Biology of Selenium in the Search of Targeted Cancer Therapies
title_sort understanding the redox biology of selenium in the search of targeted cancer therapies
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7278812/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32414091
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox9050420
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