methaneselenol and dimethylselenide

Biological volatilization of selenium, Se, in a contaminated area is an economical and environmentally friendly approach to phytoremediation techniques, but analytical methods for monitoring and studying volatile compounds released in the process of phytovolatilization are currently limited in their performance. Thus, a new method for real time quantification of trace amounts of the vapors of hydrogen selenide (H(2)Se), methylselenol (CH(3)SeH), dimethylselenide ((CH(3))(2)Se), and dimethyldiselenide ((CH(3))(2)Se(2)) present in ambient air adjacent to living plants has been developed. This involves the characterization of the mechanism and kinetics of the reaction of H(3)O(+), NO(+), and O(2)(+•) reagent ions with molecules of these compounds and then use of the rate constants so obtained to determine their absolute concentrations in air by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS. The results of experiments demonstrating this method on emissions from maize (Zea mays) seedlings cultivated in Se rich medium are also presented.

Topics: Air; Humidity; Ions; Kinetics; Mass Spectrometry; Methanol; Nitric Oxide; Organoselenium Compounds; Seedlings; Selenium Compounds; Superoxides; Time Factors; Volatilization; Zea mays

The aim of this study was to identify the presence of MeSeH in metabolic reactions. An analytical method based on direct headspace GC-MS, eliminating loss of volatile species during sample pretreatment procedures, was developed for this purpose. The in vitro conversion of selenium compounds to the volatile species methylselenol, MeSeH, dimethyl selenide, DMeSe and dimethyl diselenide, DMeDSe was investigated. The analytical method was evaluated by means of standards of dimethyl diselenide, dimethyl selenide. The corresponding sulfides were found unsuitable as internal standards as they interacted with the selenides. The limit of detection was 0.25 μmol L(-1) (20 μg L(-1)) for the selenide as well as the diselenide. Formation of MeSeH was not observed in significant amount when selenomethionine was incubated with the enzyme l-methionine-γ-lyase; instead large amounts of DMeDSe were formed. In aqueous solution, methylseleninic acid, MeSeA reacted spontaneously with glutathione, GSH to form DMeDSe. In strongly reducing environments, however, MeSeH was also observed. When the formed MeSeH was trapped with iodoacetic acid, no DMeDSe was detected indicating that DMeDSe formation was due to spontaneous oxidation of MeSeH. These findings imply that DMeDSe may be a marker for the production of MeSeH in in vitro models. When MeSeA, Se-methylselenocysteine, Se-MeSeCys and SeMet were incubated with Jurkat cells, DMeDSe formation was only observed in the case of MeSeA. Trace amounts of DMeSe was observed in the vial with MeSeA as well as Se-MeSeCys. When DMeSe and DMeDSe were added to plasma, the sensitivity of only DMeDSe decreased significantly, implicating that DMeDSe underwent a reaction with plasma hindering the volatilization. This emphasizes that results from in vitro selenium metabolism studies may not be uncritically interpreted as consistent with the in vivo reality.

Topics: Biocatalysis; Borohydrides; Carbon-Sulfur Lyases; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Humans; Jurkat Cells; Methanol; Models, Biological; Organoselenium Compounds; Sensitivity and Specificity

All nutritional selenium sources are transformed into the assumed common intermediate selenide for the syntheses of selenoproteins for utilization and/or of selenosugar for excretion. Methylselenol [monomethylselenide, MMSe] is the assumed intermediate leading to other methylated metabolites, dimethylselenide (DMSe) and trimethylselenonium (TMSe) for excretion, and also to the intermediate selenide from methylselenocysteine and methylseleninic acid (MSA). Here, related methylation and demethylation reactions were studied in vitro by providing chemically reactive starting substrates (76Se-selenide, 77Se-MMSe and 82Se-DMSe) which were prepared in situ by the reduction of the corresponding labeled proximate precursors (76Se-selenite, 77Se-MSA and 82Se-dimethylselenoxide (DMSeO), respectively) with glutathione, the three substrates being incubated simultaneously in rat organ supernatants and homogenates. The resulting chemically labile reaction products were detected simultaneously by speciation analysis with HPLC-ICP-MS after converting the products and un-reacted substrates to the corresponding oxidized derivatives (selenite, MSA and DMSeO). The time-related changes in selenium isotope profiles showed that demethylation of MMSe to selenide was efficient but that of DMSe to MMSe was negligible, whereas methylation of selenide to MMSe, and MMSe to DMSe were efficient, and that of DMSe to TMSe occurred less efficiently. The present methylation and demethylation reactions on equilibrium between selenide, MMSe and DMSe without producing selenosugar and selenoproteins indicated that DMSe rather than TMSe is produced as the end product, suggesting that DMSe is to be excreted more abundantly than TMSe. Organ-dependent differences in the methylation and demethylation reactions were characterized for the liver, kidney and lung.

Topics: Animals; Glutathione; In Vitro Techniques; Isotopes; Kidney; Liver; Lung; Male; Methanol; Methylation; Organ Specificity; Organoselenium Compounds; Oxides; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Selenious Acid; Selenium; Selenium Compounds

Selenosis in animals is characterized by a variety of neurological abnormalities, but the chemical species of selenium and the molecular targets that mediate this neurotoxicity are unknown. We have previously shown that selenite is a potent inhibitor of squalene monooxygenase, the second enzyme in the committed pathway for cholesterol biosynthesis; inhibition of this enzyme by dimethyltellurium leads to a peripheral demyelinating neuropathy similar to that seen in selenosis. To evaluate the role methylation plays in selenium toxicity, we examined the ability of three methylselenium compounds, methylselenol, dimethylselenide, and trimethylselenonium iodide, to inhibit purified recombinant human squalene monooxygenase. IC(50) values for methylselenol (95 microM) and dimethylselenide (680 microM) were greater than that previously obtained for selenite (37 microM), and inhibition by trimethylselenonium iodide was evident only at concentrations above 3 mM. Inhibition by methylselenol as well as by selenite was slow and irreversible, suggestive of covalent binding to the enzyme, and thiol-containing compounds could prevent and reverse this inhibition, indicating that these compounds were reacting with sulfhydryl groups on the protein. Monothiols such as glutathione and beta-mercaptoethanol provided better protection than did dithiols, suggesting that these selenium compounds bind to only one of the two proposed vicinal cysteines on squalene monooxygenase. Unexpectedly, the inhibition by selenite was significantly enhanced by dithiols, indicating that a more toxic species, possibly selenide, was formed in the presence of these dithiol reductants.

Topics: Animals; Enzyme Inhibitors; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Methanol; NADPH-Ferrihemoprotein Reductase; Organoselenium Compounds; Oxygenases; Rats; Recombinant Proteins; Selenium Compounds; Squalene Monooxygenase; Sulfhydryl Compounds; Time Factors