The selenium content of SEPP1 versus selenium requirements in vertebrates

Sam Penglase; Kristin Hamre; Ståle Ellingsen

doi:10.7717/peerj.1244

The selenium content of SEPP1 versus selenium requirements in vertebrates

PeerJ. 2015 Sep 10:3:e1244. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1244. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Sam Penglase¹, Kristin Hamre², Ståle Ellingsen²

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Bergen, Norway; Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Current affiliation: Aquaculture Research Solutions (ARS), Mundingburra, Australia.
² National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) , Bergen , Norway.

Abstract

Selenoprotein P (SEPP1) distributes selenium (Se) throughout the body via the circulatory system. For vertebrates, the Se content of SEPP1 varies from 7 to 18 Se atoms depending on the species, but the reason for this variation remains unclear. Herein we provide evidence that vertebrate SEPP1 Sec content correlates positively with Se requirements. As the Se content of full length SEPP1 is genetically determined, this presents a unique case where a nutrient requirement can be predicted based on genomic sequence information.

Keywords: Nutrition; SEPP1; Selenium requirements; Selenoprotein; Selenoprotein P.

Grants and funding

The work was funded by the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs and the Norwegian Research Council of Norway (CODE knowledge platform project; www.uib.no/rg/mdb/projects/code-cod-development; Grant no. 199482/S40). In addition, Sam Penglase received a PhD scholarship from the University of Bergen. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.