Selenium-Containing Proteins/Peptides from Plants: A Review on the Structures and Functions

Abstract

Selenium is an essential microelement required for biological processes. Traditional selenium supplements (selenite and selenomethionine mainly) remain concerns due to toxicity and bioavailability. In recent decades, biofortification strategies have been applied to produce selenium-enriched edible plants to address the challenges of superior nutritional quality requirements. Plant-derived selenium-containing proteins/peptides offer potential health benefits beyond the basic nutritional requirements of Se. Highly nucleophilic seleno-amino acids, special peptide sequences, and favorable bioavailability contribute to the biological activities of selenium-containing proteins/peptides, such as antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. However, their applications on a commercial scale are insufficient owing to the complexity of purification and identification techniques and the sparse information on bioavailability and metabolism. In this review, selenium status, structural features, bioactivities, structure−activity relationships, and bioavailability, as well as the mechanisms underlying the bioactivities and metabolism of plant-derived selenium-containing proteins/peptides, are summarized and discussed for their nutraceutical use.

Turning gray selenium into a nanoaccelerator of tissue regeneration by PEG modification

“…To overcome this, three general strategies have emerged for water-soluble nanoselenium synthesis: 1) employing physical methods such as microwave irradiation [ 9 ], ultraviolet irradiation [ 10 ], laser ablation [ 11 ], and ultrasonic field treatment [ 12 ]; 2) using chemical reagents including but not limited to NaBH 4 [ 13 ], ascorbic acid [ 14 , 15 ], BSA [ 16 ] and citric acid [ 17 ] to reduce some acids containing selenium; and 3) borrowing biological identities, for example, microorganisms [ 18 ] cells and plants [ 19 ], to synthesize dissolvable nanoselenium. Nevertheless, the first physical method always suffers from a resource-intensive and laborious process [ 20 ].…”

Antioxidant activity of SSeCAHK in HepG2 cells: a selenopeptide identified from selenium-enriched soybean protein hydrolysates

“…Se is an active center of GSH-Px, Se supplementation could increase the activities of GSH-Px. 61 SSeCAHK could act as a Se donor for Se enzymes such as GSH-Px, which can catalyze GSH to scavenging ROS.…”

Selenium Biofortification of Soybean Sprouts: Effects of Selenium Enrichment on Proteins, Protein Structure, and Functional Properties

“…Based on the results detailed in Table 3 , it can be concluded that Se influenced the secondary structures of proteins to some extent. Se is bound to amino acids and then incorporated into soybean proteins, which may influence the protein structure and also the secondary structure ( 17 ). It has been speculated that the decrease in the concentration of Cys and Met is caused by the replacement of S with Se in these two amino acids, both being hydrophobic ( 30 ).…”

“…Chan et al found that over 80% of the total Se is bonded to high-molecular-weight proteins in Se-enriched soybean ( 16 ). Se-containing proteins in food products are ideal dietary sources of Se intake and are used as food supplement products via appropriate processing procedures in the agri-food industry ( 17 ).…”