Facile synthesis and anti-tumor cell activity of Se-containing nucleosides

Many organic compounds containing selenium have shown anticancer effects and some have been used in chemoprevention of cancers and other diseases. Though Se-containing amino acids are generally used for these purposes, the natural nucleosides may also be used as Se-carriers for these important applications. Therefore, we describe here the convenient synthesis of the new 3'-MeSe-thymidine nucleoside and the other uridine and thymidine derivatives modified with MeSe at the 2' and 5' positions, and report their anti-tumor activity against prostate cancer cell lines. Our work demonstrates for the first time anticancer activity of the methylseleno nucleosides.