Abstract
Organic selenium, tellurium and sulfur compounds have been studied due to their pharmacological properties. For instance, the β-aryl-chalcogenium azide compounds have demonstrated antitumoral action in vitro. However, yet no pharmacological actions of this class of compounds were determined in vivo. Caenorhabditis elegans is a nematode that presents innumerable advantages in relation to mammalian models, such as having a small and transparent body, which allows the visualization of its internal anatomy, besides short life and low cost. Based on that, the aim of this work was to investigate the pharmacological and toxicological properties of β-aryl-chalcogenium azide compounds in C. elegans. As well, to evaluate the capacity of organochalcogenium compounds to repair oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide and the possible mechanism of action of these compounds using CF1553 transgenic strain with superoxide dismutase (SOD-3) tagged with GFP. Our results showed that β-aryl-chalcogenium azide have low toxicity in wild-type worms and the pre-treatment protected against the damage induced by hydrogen peroxide at higher tested concentration. Associated with this, we observed that this protection is due in part to the increased expression of the antioxidant enzyme SOD-3. In conclusion, β-aryl-chalcogenium azide compounds caused low toxicity and induced stress-resistance by modulating SOD-3 expression in C. elegans.
Highlights
Oxidative stress is the main factor for the etiology of various diseases and occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and the antioxidant defense system (Poprac et al 2017)
An Acad Bras Cienc (2020) 92(Suppl. 2) e20181147 4 | 10 β-ARYL-CHALCOGENIUM AZIDE ACTIVATED SOD-3 IN C. elegans β-aryl-chalcogenium azide molecules modulate SOD-3 expression In order to find a mechanism by which the compounds would be protecting against H2O2, we analyzed superoxide dismutase enzyme expression, which was labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP)
We examined the toxicity of a novel class of organochalcogen compounds using C. elegans as an experimental model
Summary
Oxidative stress is the main factor for the etiology of various diseases and occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and the antioxidant defense system (Poprac et al 2017). The organochalcogen compounds present an atom of selenium, tellurium or sulfur in their chemical structure They are promising pharmacological agents that have significant biological activities and may exhibit antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antinociceptive and neuroprotective properties (Chagas et al 2017, Quines et al 2014, Nogueira et al 2004). These molecules have been evaluated in vitro for antitumoral effect on lung carcinoma A549 and for antioxidant properties, but no pharmacological actions were determined in vivo (Tabarelli et al 2017). In this context, alternative animal models have been gaining attention in the attempt to reduce the number of mammals used in experimentation and to reduce costs. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety of four β-aryl-chalcogenium azide compounds in C. elegans, as well as to evaluate their capacity to repair oxidative damage induced by pro-oxidant agents and their possible mechanism of action by making use of a transgenic strain
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