Selenium
Selenium is a chemical element investigated in biomedical research as a component of selenium-containing small molecules, selenium nanoparticles, selenium-doped carbon materials, and redox-responsive nanostructures.
Selenium is a chemical element investigated in biomedical research as a component of selenium-containing small molecules, selenium nanoparticles, selenium-doped carbon materials, and redox-responsive nanostructures. In the studies summarized here, its biological relevance is primarily associated with modulation of oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction, DNA damage, apoptosis, and antioxidant signaling. Selenium-containing systems were also examined in relation to cellular uptake, drug delivery, immune responses, antimicrobial activity, and disease models involving acute kidney injury (AKI), cancer, cardiotoxicity, acute lung injury, infection, and neurodegenerative disease.
The recent literature represents a unified research area focused on selenium biomedical applications rather than distinct mechanistic subfields. Investigated platforms include sodium selenite-related selenium chemistry, selenium nanoparticles, selenium-doped carbon quantum dots, selenide-bridged nanoparticles, and selenium-containing drug candidates. Reported biological pathways and endpoints include nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) signaling, Keap-1 expression, p38/MAPK and unfolded protein response pathways, iron chelation, mitochondrial injury, and apoptosis. These findings are predominantly based on experimental therapeutic designs and do not, in the supplied publications, establish clinical efficacy or safety in humans.
Rebuilt from PubMed 18 Sept 2026 · no new papers today
Where the papers sit
11 papers study selenium directly. Those 11 are one subject: Selenium-Based Biomedical Applications. Selenium nanomaterials and organoselenium compounds are moving toward targeted therapeutic use in cancer, tissue injury, infection, and neurodegeneration. Redox control, mitochondrial protection, immune modulation, and drug-resistance reversal recur across these applications. No way of splitting those 11 scores better than chance. 1 paradigm shift and 1 new direction follow.
Selenium can be used to amplify oxidative damage for selective tumor killing rather than primarily suppressing oxidative stress
The selenide-bridged nanoparticles for p53-mutant gastric cancer and the selenium-shell nanoparticles for glioma both treat selenium as a pro-oxidant therapeutic component: instead of using it to scavenge reactive oxygen species or restore antioxidant defenses, they use it to increase reactive oxygen species, damage DNA, and induce apoptosis, respectively overcoming p53-independent drug resistance and producing antiglioma activity 42478957Jul 42090930May. This shifts selenium from a protective redox modulator to an active generator or amplifier of lethal oxidative stress in cancer therapy.
Selenium is used as a structural pharmacophore for direct immune-checkpoint blockade
The selenium-containing small-molecule PD-L1 inhibitors use a selenomethyl group to form a distinctive binding mode in PD-L1 and directly block the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction, with the lead compound inhibiting tumor growth in a mouse model without observable toxicity 42394434Jul. Here selenium is not primarily an antioxidant, oxidative-stress amplifier, nanoparticle component, or delivery aid; it contributes to molecular recognition of an immune-checkpoint target, giving selenium a direct receptor-binding role.
Recent Findings on selenium
Selenium-Based Biomedical Therapies: Selenium-containing compounds and nanomaterials combine redox modulation with targeted delivery, immune regulation, and mitochondrial protection across cancer, infection, organ injury, and neurodegeneration 42732004Sep42565231Aug42504619Jul42478957Jul42090930May41950563Apr. In patients with spinal cord injury, lower plasma selenium accompanied oxidative and nitrosative stress, inflammation, and depleted antioxidant defenses 42742870Sep. Cardioprotective, pulmonary, renal, and antimicrobial formulations use selenium to scavenge reactive oxygen species, restore antioxidant capacity, chelate iron, or suppress multidrug-resistant pathogens 42732004Sep42565231Aug42640478Aug41950563Apr. Cancer platforms instead use selenium-associated redox activity to amplify reactive oxygen species and trigger mitochondrial dysfunction, Apoptosis, or pyroptosis, whereas phenoselenazines inhibit Aβ42 aggregation and protect neurons 42401165Jul42478957Jul42483829Jul42504619Jul. Delivery systems are moving toward organelle- and tissue-directed therapy through cellular hitchhiking, extracellular vesicles, blood-brain barrier penetration, tumor-responsive release, and kidney targeting 42565231Aug42090930May42478957Jul41950563Apr.
Written from 11 PubMed abstracts, each one cited by PMID above. Published: 2026-09-16. Last written: 2026-09-17 by GPT. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.