Broughton Pipkin

Selenium is a nutritionally essential trace element for human health, and Se deficiency is associated with many diseases. (1) All dietary Se, in both inorganic and organic forms, is metabolized by several different pathways to a shared metabolite, hydrogen selenide (H2Se, pKa = 3.9, mostly as HSe– at pH 7.4) (Figure 1a). (2) H2Se is the starting point for the downstream biosynthesis of all known Se-containing biomolecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, and small organoselenium molecules.