Methylselenol Produced In Vivo from Methylseleninic Acid or Dimethyl Diselenide Induces Toxic Protein Aggregation in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>

• Main Authors: Marc Dauplais, Katarzyna Bierla, Coralie Maizeray, Roxane Lestini, Ryszard Lobinski, Pierre Plateau, Joanna Szpunar, Myriam Lazard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: methylselenol; diselenide; methylseleninic acid; thiol/disulfide exchange; redox equilibrium; <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> metabolism
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/5/2241

Methylselenol (MeSeH) has been suggested to be a critical metabolite for anticancer activity of selenium, although the mechanisms underlying its activity remain to be fully established. The aim of this study was to identify metabolic pathways of MeSeH in <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> to decipher the mechanism of its toxicity. We first investigated in vitro the formation of MeSeH from methylseleninic acid (MSeA) or dimethyldiselenide. Determination of the equilibrium and rate constants of the reactions between glutathione (GSH) and these MeSeH precursors indicates that in the conditions that prevail in vivo, GSH can reduce the major part of MSeA or dimethyldiselenide into MeSeH. MeSeH can also be enzymatically produced by glutathione reductase or thioredoxin/thioredoxin reductase. Studies on the toxicity of MeSeH precursors (MSeA, dimethyldiselenide or a mixture of MSeA and GSH) in <em>S. cerevisiae</em> revealed that cytotoxicity and selenomethionine content were severely reduced in a <em>met17</em> mutant devoid of O-acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase. This suggests conversion of MeSeH into selenomethionine by this enzyme. Protein aggregation was observed in wild-type but not in <em>met17</em> cells. Altogether, our findings support the view that MeSeH is toxic in <em>S. cerevisiae</em> because it is metabolized into selenomethionine which, in turn, induces toxic protein aggregation.