Selenium and selenocysteine: roles in cancer, health, and development.
The many biological and biomedical effects of selenium are relatively unknown outside the selenium field. This fascinating element, initially described as a toxin, was subsequently shown to be essential for health and development. By the mid-1990s selenium emerged as one of the most promising cancer chemopreventive agents, but subsequent human clinical trials yielded contradictory results. However, basic research on selenium continued to move at a rapid pace, elucidating its many roles in health, development, and in cancer prevention and promotion. Dietary selenium acts principally through selenoproteins, most of which are oxidoreductases involved in diverse cellular functions.
Molecular Biology of Selenium Section, Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address: hatfield@mail.nih.gov.
Dolph L
DL
Hatfield
Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252, USA.
Petra A
PA
Tsuji
Molecular Biology of Selenium Section, Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Bradley A
BA
Carlson
Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Vadim N
VN
Gladyshev
D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D012643:Selenium / Q000378:metabolism*; D017279:Selenocysteine / Q000378:metabolism*; D051140:Selenoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D051140:Selenoproteins; D017279:Selenocysteine; D012643:Selenium
cancer; selenium; selenocysteine; selenoproteins