Project Details
Projekt
Identification and characterization of new selenoproteins in the mammalian organism
Applicant
Dr. Antonios Kyriakopoulos
Subject Area
Biochemistry
Term
from 2000 to 2006
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5241776
Previous studies have indicated that selenium is present in the mammalian organism in a larger number of proteins. Of those only a few have so far been identified. They were shown to be selenocysteine-containing enzymes with important biological functions. In this project investigations will be carried out to characterize further selenoproteins. These are above all an 18 kD-selenoprotein in the mitochondrial membranes which with low selenium intake is preferentially supplied with the element, a specific 34 kD-selenoprotein in the sperm nuclei which might be of importance in the male reproductive processes and a 15 kD-selenoprotein found to be enriched in the prostate gland which is of special interest with regard to the observed inverse relationship between the incidence of prostatic cancer and the selenium status of the patients. Experiments will be performed on rats and cell cultures to determine their biochemical and genetic characteristics, their functions and effects and the regulation mechanisms responsible for their expression, tissue distribution and metabolism. In these studies some information will also be obtained on several other selenium-containing proteins which will then be investigated in more detail at a later stage of the project.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
