Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Structural and Biochemical Studies of Proteins Through Thermal Shift Assays
Published on: August 9, 2024
Selenium Metabolism and Biosynthesis of Selenoproteins in the Human Body
1Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Charite, Medical University, Berlin, D-10115, Germany. waldemar.minich@charite.de.
Abstract:
As an essential trace element, selenium (Se) plays a tremendous role in the functioning of the human organism being used for the biosynthesis of selenoproteins (proteins containing one or several selenocysteine residues). The functions of human selenoproteins in vivo are extremely diverse. Many selenoproteins have an antioxidant activity and, hence, play a key role in cell antioxidant defense and maintenance of redox homeostasis, which accounts for their involvement in diverse biological processes, such as signal transduction, proliferation, cell transformation and aging, ferroptosis, immune system functioning, etc. One of the critical functions of selenoenzymes is participation in the synthesis of thyroid hormones regulating basal metabolism in all body tissues. Over the last decades, optimization of population Se intake for prevention of diseases related to Se deficiency or excess has been recognized as a pressing issue in modern healthcare worldwide.
Related Concept Videos
Sulfur Assimilation
Phase II Reactions: Glutathione Conjugation and Mercapturic Acid Formation
Several distinctive characteristics distinguish glutathione conjugation from other phase II...
Biosynthesis of Nucleic Acids
Role of Skin in Vitamin D Synthesis
The solar UV B rays (290-315 nm) are absorbed by the skin, and 7-dehydrocholesterol (provitamin D3) photolyzes it to previtamin D3, which undergoes a rapid transformation to vitamin...
Drug Metabolism: Phase II Reactions
Overview of Protein Metabolism
Amino acids play various roles in the body once they are absorbed into cells. They are restructured...

