PMID: 11606383Oct 19, 2001Paper

Enhanced sensitivity of human oral carcinomas to induction of apoptosis by selenium compounds: involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinase and Fas pathways

Cancer Research
A GhoseP R Harrison

Abstract

Prospective studies and recent intervention trials suggest that the risk of some cancers, including respiratory tract cancers, may be inversely related to selenium (SE) intake, and this is supported by strong experimental evidence with chemical-induced animal cancer models. How this cancer-protective effect is mediated is unclear, but interference with the balance of growth/apoptosis during tumor outgrowth is one plausible hypothesis. In general, there is a correlation between the effectiveness of SE compounds as chemopreventive agents in vivo and their ability to inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in vitro. This study has investigated the signal transduction pathways affected by SE compounds in biopsies of normal human oral mucosa cells and human oral squamous carcinoma cells (SCCs), using a primary culture system. Two SE compounds were tested: selenodiglutathione (SDG), the primary metabolite of selenite and the most commonly used cancer-protective SE compound in animal models, and the synthetic SE compound, 1,4-phenylenebis(methylene)selenocyanate (p-XSC), one of the most potent chemopreventive pharmacological SE compounds. Three novel findings are reported: (a) SCCs were found to be significantly more sensitive to ind...Continue Reading

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