Inhibition of zinc finger protein-DNA interactions by sodium selenite

Sodium Selenite As Potential Adjuvant Therapy for COVID-19

The review considers the role that selenium plays in RNA virus infections and, in particular, COVID-19. Many RNA viruses are selenium dependent because antisense interactions arise between viral RNAs and host mRNA regions containing the selencysteine insertion sequence to cause selenium deficiency, oxidative stress, immune response impairment, etc. Sodium selenite is a licensed selenium-containing product and is widely used in medicine, veterinary, and agriculture. Its advantages include the following. Sodium selenite rapidly penetrates through cell membranes in all tissues of the body; is intensely involved in metabolic processes accompanied by oxidation of sulfur-containing cell proteins; exerts an antiaggregation effect by reducing thromboxane activity; interrupts the contact of a virion (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) with the membrane of a healthy cell; and suppresses NF-κB activity, which significantly increases in coronavirus infections. Arguments supporting the use of sodium selenite as adjuvant therapy in COVID-19 are discussed.

Incorporating Selenium into Heterocycles and Natural Products─From Chemical Properties to Pharmacological Activities

Selenium (Se)-containing compounds have emerged as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of a range of diseases. Through tremendous effort, considerable knowledge has been acquired to understand the complex chemical properties and biological activities of selenium, especially after its incorporation into bioactive molecules. From this perspective, we compiled extensive literature evidence to summarize and critically discuss the relationship between the pharmacological activities and chemical properties of selenium compounds and the strategic incorporation of selenium into organic molecules, especially bioactive heterocycles and natural products. We also provide perspectives regarding the challenges in selenium-based medicinal chemistry and future research directions.

Selenocompounds in Cancer Therapy: An Overview

In vitro and in vivo experimental models clearly demonstrate the efficacy of Se compounds as anticancer agents, contingent upon chemical structures and concentrations of test molecules, as well as on the experimental model under investigation that together influence cellular availability of compounds, their molecular dynamics and mechanism of action. The latter includes direct and indirect redox effects on cellular targets by the activation and altered compartmentalization of molecular oxygen, and the interaction with protein thiols and Se proteins. As such, Se compounds interfere with the redox homeostasis and signaling of cancer cells to produce anticancer effects that include alterations in key regulatory elements of energy metabolism and cell cycle checkpoints that ultimately influence differentiation, proliferation, senescence, and death pathways. Cys-containing proteins and Se proteins involved in the response to Se compounds as sensors and transducers of anticancer signals, i.e., the pharmacoproteome of Se compounds, are described and include critical elements in the different phases of cancer onset and progression from initiation and escape of immune surveillance to tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. The efficacy and mode of action on these compounds vary depending on the inorganic and organic form of Se used as either supplement or pharmacological agent. In this regard, differences in experimental/clinical protocols provide options for either chemoprevention or therapy in different human cancers.

Selenium compounds as therapeutic agents in cancer

BACKGROUND

With cancer cells encompassing consistently higher production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and with an induced antioxidant defense to counteract the increased basal ROS production, tumors have a limited reserve capacity resulting in an increased vulnerability of some cancer cells to ROS. Based on this, oxidative stress has been recognized as a tumor-specific target for the rational design of new anticancer agents. Among redox modulating compounds, selenium compounds have gained substantial attention due to their promising chemotherapeutic potential.

SCOPE OF REVIEW

This review aims in summarizing and providing the recent developments of our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the potential anticancer effects of selenium compounds.

MAJOR CONCLUSIONS

It is well established that selenium at higher doses readily can turn into a prooxidant and thereby exert its potential anticancer properties. However, the biological activity of selenium compounds and the mechanism behind these effects are highly dependent on its speciation and the specific metabolic pathways of cells and tissues. Conversely, the chemical properties and the main molecular mechanisms of the most relevant inorganic and organic selenium compounds as well as selenium-based nanoparticles must be taken into account and are discussed herein.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE

Elucidating and deepening our mechanistic knowledge of selenium compounds will help in designing and optimizing compounds with more specific antitumor properties for possible future application of selenium compounds in the treatment of cancer. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Redox regulation of differentiation and de-differentiation.

Identification of an S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) dependent arsenic methyltransferase in Danio rerio

Arsenic methylation is an important cellular metabolic process that modulates arsenic toxicity and carcinogenicity. Biomethylation of arsenic produces a series of mono-, di- and tri-methylated arsenic metabolites that can be detected in tissues and excretions. Here we report that zebrafish exposed to arsenite (As(III)) produces organic arsenicals, including MMA(III), MMA(V) and DMA(V) with characteristic tissue ratios, demonstrating that an arsenic methylation pathway exists in zebrafish. In mammals, cellular inorganic arsenic is methylated by a SAM-dependent arsenic methyltransferase, AS3MT. A zebrafish arsenic methyltransferase homolog, As3mt, was identified by sequence alignment. Western blotting analysis showed that As3mt was universally expressed in zebrafish tissues. Prominent expression in liver and intestine correlated with methylated arsenic metabolites detected in those tissues. As3mt was expressed in and purified from Escherichia coli for in vitro functional studies. Our results demonstrated that As3mt methylated As(III) to DMA(V) as an end product and produced MMA(III) and MMA(V) as intermediates. The activity of As3mt was inhibited by elevated concentrations of the substrate As(III) as well as the metalloid selenite, which is a well-known antagonistic micronutrient of arsenic toxicity. The activity As3mt was abolished by substitution of either Cys160 or Cys210, which corresponds to conserved cysteine residues in AS3MT homologs, suggesting that they are involved in catalysis. Expression in zebrafish of an enzyme that has a similar function to human and rodent orthologs in catalyzing intracellular arsenic biomethylation validates the applicability of zebrafish as a valuable vertebrate model for understanding arsenic-associated diseases in humans.

Zinc finger proteins as templates for metal ion exchange and ligand reactivity. Chemical and biological consequences

Zinc finger reactions with inorganic ions and coordination compounds are as diverse as the zinc fingers themselves. Use of metal ions such as Co(2+) and Cd(2+) has given structural, thermodynamic and kinetic information on zinc fingers and zinc-finger-DNA/RNA interactions. It is a general truism that alteration of the coordination sphere in the finger environment will disrupt the recognition with DNA/RNA and this has implications for mechanism of toxicity and carcinogenesis of metal ions. Structural zinc fingers are susceptible to electrophilic attack and the recognition that the coordination sphere of inorganic compounds may be modulated for control of electrophilic attack on zinc fingers raises the possibility of systematic studies of zinc fingers as drug targets using inorganic chemistry. Some inorganic compounds such as those of As(III) and Au(I) may exert their biological effects through inactivation of zinc fingers and novel approaches to specifically attack the zinc-bound ligands using Co(III)-Schiff bases and Platinum(II)-Nucleobase compounds have been proposed. The genomic importance of zinc fingers suggests that the "coordination chemistry" of zinc fingers themselves is ripe for exploration to design new targets for medicinal inorganic chemistry.

Mechanisms of inhibition of zinc-finger transcription factors by selenium compounds ebselen and selenite

The anti-inflammatory selenium compounds, ebselen (2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3[2H]-one) and selenite, were found to alter the DNA binding mechanisms and structures of cysteine-rich zinc-finger transcription factors. As assayed by DNase I protection, DNA binding by TFIIIA (transcription factor IIIA, prototypical Cys(2)His(2) zinc finger protein), was inhibited by micromolar amounts of ebselen. In a gel shift assay, ebselen inhibited the Cys(2)His(2) zinc finger-containing DNA binding domain (DBD) of the NF-kappaB mediated transcription factor Sp1. Ebselen also inhibited DNA binding by the p50 subunit of the pro-inflammatory Cys-containing NF-kappaB transcription factor. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was utilized to elucidate mechanisms of chemical interaction between ebselen and a zinc-bound Cys(2)His(2) zinc finger polypeptide modeled after the third finger of Sp1 (Sp1-3). Exposing Sp1-3 to micromolar amounts of ebselen resulted in Zn(2+) release from this peptide and the formation of a disulfide bond by oxidation of zinc finger SH groups, the likely mechanism for DNA binding inhibition. Selenite was shown by ESI-MS to also eject zinc from Sp1-3 as well as induce disulfide bond formation through SH oxidation. The selenite-dependent inhibition/oxidation mechanism differed from that of ebselen by inducing the formation of a stable selenotrisulfide bond. Selenite-induced selenotrisulfide formation was dependent upon the structure of the Cys(2)His(2) zinc finger as alteration in the finger structure enhanced this reaction as well as selenite-dependent zinc release. Ebselen and selenite-dependent inhibition/oxidation of Cys-rich zinc finger proteins, with concomitant release of zinc and finger structural changes, points to mechanisms at the atomic and protein level for selenium-induced alterations in Cys-rich proteins, and possible amelioration of certain inflammatory, neurodegenerative, and oncogenic responses.

Interaction of selenium compounds with zinc finger proteins involved in DNA repair

As an essential element, selenium is present in enzymes from several families, including glutathione peroxidases, and is thought to exert anticarcinogenic properties. A remarkable feature of selenium consists of its ability to oxidize thiols under reducing conditions. Thus, one mode of action recently suggested is the oxidation of thiol groups of metallothionein, thereby providing zinc for essential reactions. However, tetrahedral zinc ion complexation to four thiolates, similar to that found in metallothionein, is present in one of the major classes of transcription factors and other so-called zinc finger proteins. Within this study we investigated the effect of selenium compounds on the activity of the formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg), a zinc finger protein involved in base excision repair, and on the DNA-binding capacity and integrity of xeroderma pigmentosum group A protein (XPA), a zinc finger protein essential for nucleotide excision repair. The reducible selenium compounds phenylseleninic acid, phenylselenyl chloride, selenocystine, ebselen, and 2-nitrophenylselenocyanate caused a concentration-dependent decrease of Fpg activity, while no inhibition was detected with fully reduced selenomethionine, methylselenocysteine or some sulfur-containing analogs. Furthermore, reducible selenium compounds interfered with XPA-DNA binding and released zinc from the zinc finger motif, XPAzf. Zinc release was even evident at high glutathione/oxidised glutathine ratios prevailing under cellular conditions. Finally, comparative studies with metallothionein and XPAzf revealed similar or even accelerated zinc release from XPAzf. Altogether, the results indicate that zinc finger motifs are highly reactive towards oxidizing selenium compounds. This could affect gene expression, DNA repair and, thus, genomic stability.