Selenium Enriched Plant Material for Chemoprevention

描述(摘自申请者的摘要)：硒可能会起到 在癌症预防中的重要作用。膳食中的硒有助于预防 包括肺癌、前列腺癌和结肠癌在内的几种癌症。的威力 硒的化学形态各不相同。最有效的化合物是迅速和 被人体定量转化的，如硒-甲基硒半胱氨酸， 最有效的抗癌硒化合物。一种廉价的方式来 提供膳食硒是为了使某些食物富含硒，最好是在 硒-甲基硒半胱氨酸的形式。我们打算创造这种类型的产品 通过改造作物来积累硒-甲基硒半胱氨酸。第一阶段 研究确定了改变人体内硒代谢的可行性。 拟南芥通过过表达三磷酸腺苷硫化酶，导致更多 有效吸收亚硒酸盐。A.硒半胱氨酸甲基转移酶 双硫链霉菌在拟南芥中也有表达。进一步改进了 这些植物吸收和转化硒的能力涉及到克隆 与Se积累有关的其他基因。根据第一阶段的结果 研究，参与根中硒吸收和化学还原的基因 组织中的亚硒酸盐将成为靶标。我们会把这些 基因进入芥菜，印度的芥菜植物，以产生一种 商业上可行的高硒甲基硒半胱氨酸植物产品。 建议的商业应用：不可用

DESCRIPTION (Scanned from the Applicant's Abstract): Selenium may play a significant role in cancer prevention. Dietary selenium aids in preventing several types of carcinomas including lung, prostate, and colon. The potency of Se varies with its chemical form. The most effective compounds are rapidly and quantitatively transformed by the body, such as Se-methylselenocysteine, one of the most effective anti-carcinogenic Se-compounds. An inexpensive way to provide dietary Se would be to enrich certain foodstuffs with Se, preferably in the form of Se-methylselenocysteine. We propose to create this type of product by engineering crop plants to accumulate Se -methylselenocysteine. Phase I studies have established the feasibility of altering selenium metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana by overexpressing ATP sulfurylase, resulting in more efficient assimilation of selenate. Selenocysteine methyltransferase from A. bisulcatus was also expressed in A. thaliana. Further improvements in the ability of these plants to take up and transform selenate involve cloning additional genes involved in Se accumulation. Based on results of the Phase I research, genes involved in Se uptake in the roots and chemical reduction of selenate to selenite in the tissues will be targeted. We will transfer these genes into Brassica juncea, the Indian mustard plants, to produce a commercially viable high Se-methylselenocysteine plant product. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE