查看文章

The element selenium was discovered in 1818 by the Swedish chemist Berzelius and was named after the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene. 1 In biology, selenium was long considered as an absolute poison until Schwarz and Foltz identified it as a micronutrient for bacteria, mammals, and birds. 2 After 15 years of empirical studies on selenium deficiency syndromes in experimental animals, selenium biochemistry emerged in 1973 when two bacterial enzymes, formate dehydrogenase3 and glycine reductase, 4 were reported to contain selenium. At the same time, the biochemical role of selenium in mammals was clearly established by the discovery that it is part of the active site of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx). 5, 6 The number of selenoproteins indentified has grown substantially in recent years. 7, 8 In prokaryotes, formate dehydrogenases, 9 hydrogenases, 10-12 and glycine …