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Selenoproteins in Parasites

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Selenium

Abstract

Parasites are organisms that live, at least part of their lifecycle, inside another organism (the host), which they exploit for their own benefit. Parasite infections are highly prevalent in vast tropical regions and cause a wide variety of human-neglected diseases. Significant advances have been made in the identification and characterization of selenoproteins of both major groups of human parasites: protozoan (unicellular) and helminth (worm) parasites. Some selenoprotein mRNAs had a highly efficient noncanonical form of eukaryotic SECIS element. A major finding has been the identification of the selenoprotein thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR) as the single redox wire for electron transfer to both thioredoxin and glutathione pathways in flatworm parasites (phylum Platyhelminthes). Further studies validated TGR as a novel drug target and identified drug leads that show great promise for treatment of flatworm infections by disrupting parasite redox homeostasis. Interestingly, lineage-specific selenoprotein families are present in medically important protozoan parasites, but are absent in their hosts.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by PDT 63-105 grant from the Uruguayan Research Council and FIRCA-NIH Grant TW008588 to GS, NIH grant GM065204 to VNG, and PEDECIBA/ANII and CSIC postgraduate fellowships to MB.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cátedra de Inmunología, Universidad de la República, Instituto de Higiene, Avda. A. Navarro 3051, Montevideo, CP, 11600, Uruguay

    Gustavo Salinas, Mariana Bonilla & Lucía Otero

  2. Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Alexey V. Lobanov & Vadim N. Gladyshev

Authors
  1. Gustavo Salinas
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  2. Mariana Bonilla
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  3. Lucía Otero
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  4. Alexey V. Lobanov
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  5. Vadim N. Gladyshev
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gustavo Salinas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Cancer Institute, Basic Research Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Dolph L. Hatfield

  2. University of Hawaii, Monoa, Dole Street 2444, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    Marla J. Berry

  3. , Division of Genetics, Department of Medi, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard, Avenue Louis Pasteur 77, Boston, 02115, USA

    Vadim N. Gladyshev

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Salinas, G., Bonilla, M., Otero, L., Lobanov, A.V., Gladyshev, V.N. (2011). Selenoproteins in Parasites. In: Hatfield, D., Berry, M., Gladyshev, V. (eds) Selenium. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1025-6_37

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