Selenium is a micronutrient essential for the generation of selenoproteins, which function predominantly by detoxifying cellular reactive oxygen species. In this issue, Carlisle et al. describe a novel mechanism whereby perturbing selenium utilization via inhibition of SEPHS2, a component of the selenocysteine-biosynthesis pathway, results in selenide poisoning and cancer cell death.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Liou, G. Y. & Storz, P. Free Radic. Res. 44, 479–496 (2010).
Hangauer, M. J. et al. Nature 551, 247–250 (2017).
Carlisle, A. E. et al. Nat. Metab. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0224-7 (2020).
Yang, W. S. et al. Cell 156, 317–331 (2014).
Miess, H. et al. Oncogene 37, 5435–5450 (2018).
Zou, Y. et al. Nat. Commun. 10, 1617 (2019).
Sun, N. et al. CRISPR J. 2, 230–245 (2019).
Bersuker, K. et al. Nature 575, 688–692 (2019).
Doll, S. et al. Nature 575, 693–698 (2019).
Gouge, J. et al. Cell 163, 1375–1387 (2015).
Lockwood, W. W. et al. PLoS Med. 7, e1000315 (2010).
Ambrosone, C. B. et al. J. Clin. Oncol. 38, 804–814 (2020).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
B.P., A.K. and A.V wrote the article. All authors approved the final version.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kapara, A., Vannini, A. & Peck, B. A micronutrient with major effects on cancer cell viability. Nat Metab 2, 564–565 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0244-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0244-3
- Springer Nature Limited