Effect of infection and selenium status on the selenotranscriptome

Abstract

Previous work in our laboratory has shown that mice deficient in selenium develop heart pathology when infected with a normally benign coxsackievirus (CVB3/0). Many of the 24 selenoproteins present in mice are involved in protection from oxidative stress, which may be involved in limiting pathology post infection. In order to determine the effect of Se status and infection on the selenotranscriptome, we fed mice either a Se‐adequate or Se‐deficient diet for 4 weeks, followed by infection with CVB3/0. Uninfected mice in each diet group served as controls. We measured mRNA levels for 15 selenoproteins in the liver and heart daily for 10 days post infection. Selenoprotein mRNA expression was lower in Se‐deficient mice for GPx1, Sel M, Sel R, and Sel H independent of infection. During infection, mRNA levels for GPx1, GPx4, TR1, Sel K, and Sel N all exhibited increased expression, whereas GPx3, TR2, Sel M, and Sel W exhibited decreased expression, regardless of selenium status. These findings suggest that mRNA levels for a number of selenoproteins are influenced by infection and thus may play a role in protection and/or recovery from infectious disease.Grant Funding Source : NIH