Toxicology and pharmacology of synthetic organoselenium compounds: an update
Autor: | João Rocha, Cristina W. Nogueira, Nilda Vargas Barbosa |
---|---|
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Azoles Proteases Antioxidant Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis medicine.medical_treatment Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Review Article 010501 environmental sciences Pharmacology Isoindoles Toxicology 01 natural sciences 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound Selenium Organoselenium Compound Organoselenium Compounds medicine Animals Humans Sulfhydryl Compounds Amino Acids Selenoproteins 0105 earth and related environmental sciences chemistry.chemical_classification Ebselen Molecular Structure General Medicine Amino acid 030104 developmental biology Enzyme chemistry Thiol Organic synthesis Diselenides |
Zdroj: | Archives of Toxicology |
ISSN: | 1432-0738 0340-5761 |
Popis: | Here, we addressed the pharmacology and toxicology of synthetic organoselenium compounds and some naturally occurring organoselenium amino acids. The use of selenium as a tool in organic synthesis and as a pharmacological agent goes back to the middle of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. The rediscovery of ebselen and its investigation in clinical trials have motivated the search for new organoselenium molecules with pharmacological properties. Although ebselen and diselenides have some overlapping pharmacological properties, their molecular targets are not identical. However, they have similar anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, possibly, via activation of transcription factors, regulating the expression of antioxidant genes. In short, our knowledge about the pharmacological properties of simple organoselenium compounds is still elusive. However, contrary to our early expectations that they could imitate selenoproteins, organoselenium compounds seem to have non-specific modulatory activation of antioxidant pathways and specific inhibitory effects in some thiol-containing proteins. The thiol-oxidizing properties of organoselenium compounds are considered the molecular basis of their chronic toxicity; however, the acute use of organoselenium compounds as inhibitors of specific thiol-containing enzymes can be of therapeutic significance. In summary, the outcomes of the clinical trials of ebselen as a mimetic of lithium or as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 proteases will be important to the field of organoselenium synthesis. The development of computational techniques that could predict rational modifications in the structure of organoselenium compounds to increase their specificity is required to construct a library of thiol-modifying agents with selectivity toward specific target proteins. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |