Selenium May Slow March Of AIDS

[Guest guest]

Web address:

     http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/

     081128082835.htm

Selenium May Slow March Of AIDS

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2008) — Increasing the production of naturally occurring proteins that contain selenium in human blood cells slows down multiplication of the AIDS virus, according to biochemists.

"We have found that increasing the expression of proteins that contain selenium negatively affects the replication of HIV," said K. Sandeep Prabhu, Penn State assistant professor of immunology and molecular toxicology. "Our results suggest a reduction in viral replication by at least 10-fold."

Selenium is a micronutrient that the body needs to maintain normal metabolism. Unlike other nutrients, which bind to certain proteins and modulate the protein's activity, selenium gets incorporated into proteins in the form of an amino acid called selenocysteine.

These proteins – selenoproteins – are especially important in reducing the stress caused by an infection, thereby slowing its spread.

Upon in

fecting a person, the virus quickly degrades selenoproteins so that it can replicate efficiently. It is unclear just how the virus is able to silence these proteins but Prabhu and his colleagues believe that stress inflicted on cells by the rapidly dividing virus, which produces a key protein known as Tat, is the likely culprit.

Tat is one of about 14 odd proteins produced by HIV during the first stage of infection. The job of these proteins is to trigger the expression of all the other genes that the virus needs to sustain itself. In addition, Tat also plays a key role in helping the virus replicate.

One of the proteins that targets Tat is a selenoprotein known as TR1.

"Since HIV targets the selenoproteins, we thought that the logical way to deal with the virus is to increase the expression of such proteins in the body," explained Prabhu, whose team's findings are outlined this week (Nov. 28) in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Researchers first isolated blood cells from healthy human volunteers who did not have HIV, and infected those cells with the virus. Next, they added tiny amounts of a selenium compound – sodium selenite – into the cell culture to see the effect on viral replication.

Results from the tests indicate that the addition of selenium inhibits the replication of HIV at least 10-fold, compared to cell cultures in which no selenium is added. When the researchers selectively reduced production of the selenium containing TR1=2

0protein, they observed a 3.5-fold increase in viral replication.

"This confirms that while increasing the expression of TR1 has a negative impact on the replication of HIV, reducing it helps the virus replicate more efficiently," explained Prabhu. He believes that TR1 works by upsetting the chemical structure of Tat, which in turn reduces the virus' ability to replicate.

"Once we fully understand the function of these selenium proteins, it will give us a handle to come up with more effective drugs," said Prabhu, whose work is partly funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Other researchers on the paper include Parisa Kalantari, post-doctoral scholar; Vivek Narayan, graduate student; Kambadur Muralidhar, visiting faculty; Ujjawal H. Gandhi, graduate student; and Hema Vunta, graduate student, all at Penn State; Satish K. Natarajan, research associate, University of Nebraska; and J. , associate professor of medicine and microbiology, Boston University.

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[Guest guest]

Great. More data detailing selenium's anti-viral effects. This is not

new news, though. Dr. Will , Associate Professor in the

Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Georgia, told

me this in 1996. To read more about selenium's anti-viral properties

go to: http://www.whale.to/m/selenium.html

This is why I take 600 mcg of selenium as sodium selenite every day.

Mooney

www.michaelmooney.net

www.medibolics.com

> Web address:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081128082835.htm

> Selenium May Slow March Of AIDS

> ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2008) †" Increasing the production of

naturally occurring proteins that contain selenium in human blood

cells slows down multiplication of the AIDS virus, according to

biochemists.

> " We have found that increasing the expression of proteins that

contain selenium negatively affects the replication of HIV, " said K.

Sandeep Prabhu, Penn State assistant professor of immunology and

molecular toxicology. " Our results suggest a reduction in viral

replication by at least 10-fold. "

>

> Selenium is a micronutrient that the body needs to maintain normal

metabolism. Unlike other nutrients, which bind to certain proteins and

modulate the protein's activity, selenium gets incorporated into

proteins in the form of an amino acid called selenocysteine.

>

> These proteins †" selenoproteins †" are especially important in

reducing the stress caused by an infection, thereby slowing its spread.

>

> Upon infecting a person, the virus quickly degrades selenoproteins

so that it can replicate efficiently. It is unclear just how the virus

is able to silence these proteins but Prabhu and his colleagues

believe that stress inflicted on cells by the rapidly dividing virus,

which produces a key protein known as Tat, is the likely culprit.

>

> Tat is one of about 14 odd proteins produced by HIV during the first

stage of infection. The job of these prot

> eins is to trigger the expression of all the other genes that the

virus needs to sustain itself. In addition, Tat also plays a key role

in helping the virus replicate.

>

> One of the proteins that targets Tat is a selenoprotein known as TR1.

>

> " Since HIV targets the selenoproteins, we thought that the logical

way to deal with the virus is to increase the expression of such

proteins in the body, " explained Prabhu, whose team's findings are

outlined this week (Nov. 28) in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

>

> Researchers first isolated blood cells from healthy human volunteers

who did not have HIV, and infected those cells with the virus. Next,

they added tiny amounts of a selenium compound †" sodium selenite †"

into the cell culture to see the effect on viral replication.

>

> Results from the tests indicate that the addition of selenium

inhibits the replication of HIV at least 10-fold, compared to cell

cultures in which no selenium is added. When the researchers

selectively reduced production of the selenium containing TR1 protein,

they observed a 3.5-fold increase in viral replication.

>

> " This confirms that while increasing the expression of TR1 has a

negative impact on the replication of HIV, reducing it helps the virus

replicate more efficiently, " explained Prabhu. He believes that TR1

works by upsetting the chemical structure of Tat, which in turn

reduces the virus' ability to replicate.

>

> " Once we fully understand the function of these selenium proteins,

it will give us a handle to come up with more=2

> 0effective drugs, " said Prabhu, whose work is partly funded by the

National Institutes of Health.

>

> Other researchers on the paper include Parisa Kalantari,

post-doctoral scholar; Vivek Narayan, graduate student; Kambadur

Muralidhar, visiting faculty; Ujjawal H. Gandhi, graduate student; and

Hema Vunta, graduate student, all at Penn State; Satish K. Natarajan,

research associate, University of Nebraska; and J. ,

associate professor of medicine and microbiology, Boston University.

>