Publications by authors named "Jordan Sonet"

Selenoproteins, in which the selenium atom is present in the rare amino acid selenocysteine, are vital components of cell homeostasis, antioxidant defense, and cell signaling in mammals. The expression of the selenoproteome, composed of 25 selenoprotein genes, is strongly controlled by the selenium status of the body, which is a corollary of selenium availability in the food diet. Here, we present an alternative strategy for the use of the radioactive Se isotope in order to characterize the selenoproteome regulation based on (i) the selective labeling of the cellular selenocompounds with non-radioactive selenium isotopes (Se, Se) and (ii) the detection of the isotopic enrichment of the selenoproteins using size-exclusion chromatography followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection.

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Selenium is an essential trace element which is incorporated in the form of a rare amino acid, the selenocysteine, into an important group of proteins, the selenoproteins. Among the twenty-five selenoprotein genes identified to date, several have important cellular functions in antioxidant defense, cell signaling and redox homeostasis. Many selenoproteins are regulated by the availability of selenium which mostly occurs in the form of water-soluble molecules, either organic (selenomethionine, selenocysteine, and selenoproteins) or inorganic (selenate or selenite).

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Glutathione peroxidase 1 (Gpx1), one of the most responsive selenoproteins to the variation of selenium concentration, is often used to evaluate "selenium status" at a cellular or organismal level. The four major types of analytical methodologies to quantify Gpx1 were revisited. They include (i) an enzymatic assay, (ii, iii) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) with (ii) western blot detection of protein or (iii) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS) detection of selenium, and (iv) size-exclusion chromatography with ICP MS detection.

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In contrast to other trace elements that are cofactors of enzymes and removed from proteins under denaturing conditions, Se is covalently bound to proteins when incorporated into selenoproteins, since it is a component of selenocysteine aminoacid. It implies that selenoproteins can undergo several biochemical separation methods in stringent and chaotropic conditions and still maintain the presence of selenium in the primary sequence. This feature has been used to develop a method for the detection of trace levels of human selenoproteins in cell extracts without the use of radioactive isotopes.

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Selenium (Se) is an essential component of genetically encoded selenoproteins, in the form of a rare amino acid, namely the selenocysteine (Sec). Radioactive Se has been widely used to trace selenoproteins in vitro and in vivo (cell models and animals). Alternatively, its unique isotopic pattern can be used to detect and characterize nonradioactive Se-compounds in cellular extracts using molecular or elemental mass spectrometry at ppm levels.

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Systematic investigations of the cyclooligomerization of 1,4-disubstituted hydroquinone derivatives under Friedel-Crafts conditions have been carried out to demonstrate that the formation of pillar[5]arenes occurs under thermodynamic control.

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