A simple and efficient strategy to enhance the antioxidant activities of amino-substituted glutathione peroxidase mimics

The glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities of some diaryl diselenides incorporating tertiary amino groups were studied with H(2)O(2), Cum-OOH, and tBuOOH as substrates and with PhSH as thiol co-substrate. Simple replacement of a hydrogen atom with a methoxy group dramatically enhances the GPx activity. The introduction of methoxy substituents ortho to selenium in N,N-dialkylbenzylamine-based compounds makes the basicity of the amino groups perfect for the catalysis. The presence of 6-OMe groups prevents possible SeN interactions in the selenols, increasing their zwitterionic characters. The methoxy substituents also protect the selenium in the selenenic acid intermediates from overoxidation to seleninic acids or irreversible inactivation to selenonic acid derivatives. The additional substituents also play a crucial role in the selenenyl sulfide intermediates, by preventing thiol exchange reactions-which would normally lead to an inactivation pathway-at the selenium centers. The strengths of SeN interactions in the selenenyl sulfide intermediates are dramatically reduced upon introduction of the methoxy substituents, which not only reduce the thiol exchange reactions at selenium but also enhance the nucleophilic attack of the incoming thiols at sulfur. The facile attack of thiols at sulfur in the selenenyl sulfides also prevents the reactions between the selenenyl sulfides and H(2)O(2) that can regenerate the selenenic acids (reverse-GPx cycle). These studies reveal that the simple 6-OMe groups play multiple roles in each of the catalytically active intermediates by introducing steric and electronic effects that are required for efficient catalysis.     

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like antioxidant activity of the organoselenium drug ebselen: unexpected complications with thiol exchange reactions

The factors that are responsible for the relatively low glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like antioxidant activity of organoselenium compounds such as ebselen (1, 2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one) in the reduction of hydroperoxides with aromatic thiols such as benzenethiol and 4-methylbenzenethiol as cosubstrates are described. Experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that the relatively poor GPx-like catalytic activity of organoselenium compounds is due to the undesired thiol exchange reactions that take place at the selenium center in the selenenyl sulfide intermediate. This study suggests that any substituent that is capable of enhancing the nucleophilic attack of thiol at sulfur in the selenenyl sulfide state would enhance the antioxidant potency of organoselenium compounds such as ebselen. It is proved that the use of thiol having an intramolecularly coordinating group would enhance the biological activity of ebselen and other organoselenium compounds. The presence of strong S...N or S...O interactions in the selenenyl sulfide state can modulate the attack of an incoming nucleophile (thiol) at the sulfur atom of the -Se-S- bridge and enhance the GPx activity by reducing the barrier for the formation of the active species selenol.     

Synthesis, structure, and glutathione peroxidase-like activity of amino acid containing ebselen analogues and diaryl diselenides

The synthesis of some ebselen analogues and diaryl diselenides, which have amino acid functions as an intramolecularly coordinating group (Se···O) has been achieved by the DCC coupling procedure. The reaction of 2,2'-diselanediylbis(5-tert-butylisophthalic acid) or the activated ester tetrakis(2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl) 2,2'-diselanediylbis(5-tert-butylisophthalate) with different C-protected amino acids (Gly, L-Phe, L-Ala, and L-Trp) afforded the corresponding ebselen analogues. The used precursor diselenides have been found to undergo facile intramolecular cyclization during the amide bond formation reaction. In contrast, the DCC coupling of 2,2'-diselanediyldibenzoic acid with C-protected amino acids (Gly, L/D-Ala and L-Phe) affords the corresponding amide derivatives and not the ebselen analogues. Some of the representative compounds have been structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like activities of the ebselen analogues and the diaryl diselenides have been evaluated by using the coupled reductase assay method. Intramolecularly stabilized ebselen analogues show slightly higher maximal velocity (V(max)) than ebselen. However, they do not show any GPx-like activity at low GSH concentrations at which ebselen and related diselenides are active. This could be attributed to the peroxide-mediated intramolecular cyclization of the corresponding selenenyl sulfide and diaryl diselenide intermediates generated during the catalytic cycle. Interestingly, the diaryl diselenides with alanine (L,L or D,D) amide moieties showed excellent catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(M)) with low K(M) values in comparison to the other compounds.     

Biomimetic studies on selenoenzymes: modeling the role of proximal histidines in thioredoxin reductases

The roles of built-in thiol cofactors and the basic histidine (His) residues in the active site of mammalian thioredoxin reductases (TrxRs) are described with the help of experimental and density functional theory calculations on small-molecule model compounds. The reduction of selenenyl sulfides by thiols in selenoenzymes such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and TrxR is crucial for the regeneration of the active site. Experimental as well as theoretical studies were carried out with model selenenyl sulfides to probe their reactivity toward incoming thiols. We have shown that the nucleophilic attack of thiols takes place at the selenium center in the selenenyl sulfides. These thiol exchange reactions would hamper the regeneration of the active species selenol. Therefore, the basic His residues are expected to play crucial roles in the selenenyl sulfide state of TrxR. Our model study with internal amino groups in the selenenyl sulfide state reveals that the basic His residues may play important roles by deprotonating the thiol moiety in the selenenic acid state and by interacting with the sulfur atom in the selenenyl sulfide state to facilitate the nucleophilic attack of thiol at sulfur rather than at selenium, thereby generating the catalytically active species selenol. This model study also suggests that the enzyme may use the internal cysteines as cofactors to overcome the thiol exchange reactions.     

Tuning the activity of glutathione peroxidase mimics through intramolecular Se···N,O interactions: a DFT study incorporating solvent-assisted proton exchange (SAPE)

Diaryl diselenide mimics of the antioxidant selenoprotein glutathione peroxidase (GPx) often incorporate intramolecular Se···N,O interactions to enhance their GPx-like activity. Although the strength of the interaction is defined by the Lewis basicity of the donating group and the strength of the Se-X bond, there is not a clear relationship between the interaction and the GPx-like activity. Density-functional theory and natural bond orbital (NBO) calculations are used to show the range of Se···N,O interactions for various functional groups. The strongest interactions are found for groups which stabilize the donor-acceptor interaction through aromatic stabilization. The activation barriers for the GPx-like mechanism of activity of several substituted areneselenols are calculated using DFT and solvent-assisted proton exchange (SAPE), a technique that incorporates networks of solvent molecules into the theoretical model to facilitate proton transfer between sites in the reactant and product. DFT-SAPE models show that, in addition to decreasing the barrier to oxidation of the selenol, Se···N,O interactions generally increase the barriers for selenenic acid reduction and selenol regeneration because the Se···N,O interaction must be broken for the reaction to proceed. Calculated activation barriers for the rate-determining step are consistent with the relative experimental GPx-like activities of a series of diaryl diselenides.     

Aromatic Ring Strain in Arylselenenyl Bromides: Role in Facile Synthesis of Selenenate Esters via Intramolecular Cyclization

The synthesis and reactivity of 2,6‐disubstituted arylselenium compounds derived from 2‐bromo‐5‐tert‐butylisophthalic acid ( 43 ) are described. The syntheses of bis(5‐tert‐butylisophthalic acid dimethyl ester)diselenide ( 46 ) and bis(5‐tert‐butylisophthalic acid diisopropyl ester)diselenide ( 47 ) have been achieved by the reaction of the corresponding ester precursors with disodium diselenide. Reduction of diselenide 46 with lithium aluminum hydride affords 2,2′‐bis(5‐tert‐butylbenzene‐1,3‐dimethanol)diselenide ( 53 ). Diselenides 46 and 47 exhibit intramolecular Se???O interaction. Compound 53 does not show any intramolecular Se???O interaction. The anomalous Se???O nonbonded coordination observed in the single‐crystal X‐ray structures of compounds 46 , 47 and 53 is compared and contrasted. The corresponding selenenyl bromides 54 and 55 , derived from the reaction of diselenides 46 and 47 with bromine, are quite stable in the solid state. However, they undergo hydrolysis and subsequent intramolecular cyclization upon heating or after having been kept in solution over a period of time to give the corresponding selenenate esters 56 and 57 . The X‐ray crystallographic study and density functional theory calculations on 54 at the B3LYP/6‐31G(d) level of theory indicate a significant distortion in planarity of the aromatic ring. Glutathione peroxidase‐like activities of diselenides 46 and 47 and their selenenate esters 56 and 57 have been studied both by thiophenol and bioassay methods. The very low glutathione peroxidase‐like activity of the diselenides ( 46 and 47 ) and their selenenate esters ( 56 and 57 ) in the thiophenol assay is attributed to the presence of the relatively strong Se???O intramolecular interaction in the selenenyl sulfide intermediates. The interaction retards the catalytic activity through both thiol exchange and an intramolecular cyclization reaction.     

Synthesis and Structure–Activity Correlation Studies of Secondary‐ and Tertiary‐Amine‐Based Glutathione Peroxidase Mimics

In this study, a series of secondary‐ and tertiary‐amino‐substituted diaryl diselenides were synthesized and studied for their glutathione peroxidase (GPx) like antioxidant activities with H₂O₂, cumene hydroperoxide, or tBuOOH as substrates and with PhSH or glutathione (GSH) as thiol cosubstrates. This study reveals that replacement of the tert‐amino groups in benzylamine‐based diselenides by sec‐amino moieties drastically enhances the catalytic activities in both the aromatic thiol (PhSH) and GSH assay systems. Particularly, the N‐propyl‐ and N‐isopropylamino‐substituted diselenides are 8–18 times more active than the corresponding N,N‐dipropyl‐ and N,N‐diisopropylamine‐based compounds in all three peroxide systems when GSH is used as the thiol cosubstrate. Although the catalytic mechanism of sec‐amino‐substituted diselenides is similar to that of the tert‐amine‐based compounds, differences in the stability and reactivity of some of the key intermediates account for the differences in the GPx‐like activities. It is observed that the sec‐amino groups are better than the tert‐amino moieties for generating the catalytically active selenols. This is due to the absence of any significant thiol‐exchange reactions in the selenenyl sulfides derived from sec‐amine‐based diselenides. Furthermore, the seleninic acids (RSeO₂H) derived from the sec‐amine‐based compounds are more stable toward further reactions with peroxides than their tert‐amine‐based analogues.     

Modeling the mechanism of the glutathione peroxidase mimic ebselen

Ebselen (1), the quintessential mimic of the antioxidant selenoenzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx), is a potential chemopreventative for various diseases associated with oxidative stress. Density-functional theory (DFT) and solvent-assisted proton exchange (SAPE) are used to model the complex mechanism for scavenging of reactive oxygen species by 1. SAPE is a microsolvation method designed to approximate the role of bulk solvent in chemical processes involving proton transfer. Consistent with experimental studies, SAPE studies predict the reaction of 1 with thiol (RSH) to form a selenenyl sulfide 2 to be preferred under most conditions, with an alternate pathway through a selenoxide 3 possible at high reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations ([ROS] ? [RSH]). The reduction of 2 to the selenol 4, known to be rate-determining in the protein, has a high SAPE activation barrier due to a strong Se···O interaction which reduces the electrophilicity of the sulfur center of the -SeS- bond of 2. Thiols, such as dithiols and peptide-based thiols, are expected to overcome this barrier through structural features that increase the probability of attack at this sulfur. Thus, in vivo, the GPx-like pathway is the most likely mechanism for 1 under most circumstances, except, perhaps, under extreme oxidative stress where initial oxidation to 3 could compete with formation of 2. Simple thiols, used in various in vitro studies, are predicted by SAPE modeling to proceed through oxidation of 2 to a seleninyl sulfide intermediate. Overall, SAPE modeling provides a realistic interpretation of the redox mechanism of 1 and holds promise for further exploration of complex aqueous-phase reaction mechanisms.     

Diselenides and allyl selenides as glutathione peroxidase mimetics. Remarkable activity of cyclic seleninates produced in situ by the oxidation of allyl omega-hydroxyalkyl selenides

A series of aliphatic diselenides and selenides containing coordinating substituents was tested for glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like catalytic activity in a model system in which the reduction of tert-butyl hydroperoxide with benzyl thiol to afford dibenzyl disulfide and tert-butyl alcohol was performed under standard conditions and monitored by HPLC. Although the diselenides showed generally poor catalytic activity, allyl selenides proved more effective. In particular, allyl 3-hydroxypropyl selenide (25) rapidly generated 1,2-oxaselenolane Se-oxide (31) in situ by a series of oxidation and [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement steps. The remarkably active cyclic seleninate 31 proved to be the true catalyst, reacting with the thiol via a postulated mechanism in which the thioseleninate 32 is first produced, followed by further thiolysis to selenenic acid 33 and oxidation-dehydration to regenerate 31. In contrast to catalysis with GPx, formation of the corresponding selenenyl sulfide 34 comprises a competing deactivation pathway in the catalytic cycle of 31, as a separate experiment revealed that authentic 34 was a much less effective catalyst than 31. 1,2-Oxaselenane Se-oxide (37), the six-membered homologue of 31, was formed similarly from allyl 4-hydroxybutyl selenide (26), but proved a less effective catalyst than 31. Compounds 31 and 37 are the first examples of unsubstituted monocyclic seleninate esters.     

Antioxidant activity of the anti-inflammatory compound ebselen: a reversible cyclization pathway via selenenic and seleninic acid intermediates

A revised mechanism that accounts for the glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like catalytic activity of the organoselenium compound ebselen is described. It is shown that the reaction of ebselen with H(2)O(2) yields seleninic acid as the only oxidized product. The X-ray crystal structure of the seleninic acid shows that the selenium atom is involved in a noncovalent interaction with the carbonyl oxygen atom. In the presence of excess thiol, the Se--N bond in ebselen is readily cleaved by the thiol to produce the corresponding selenenyl sulfide. The selenenyl sulfide thus produced undergoes a disproportionation in the presence of H(2)O(2) to produce the diselenide, which upon reaction with H(2)O(2), produces a mixture of selenenic and seleninic acids. The addition of thiol to the mixture containing selenenic and seleninic acids leads to the formation of the selenenyl sulfide. When the concentration of the thiol is relatively low in the reaction mixture, the selenenic acid undergoes a rapid cyclization to produce ebselen. The seleninic acid, on the other hand, reacts with the diselenide to produce ebselen as the final product. DFT calculations show that the cyclization of selenenic acids to the corresponding selenenyl amides is more favored than that of sulfenic acids to the corresponding sulfenyl amides. This indicates that the regeneration of ebselen under a variety of conditions protects the selenium moiety from irreversible inactivation, which may be responsible for the biological activities of ebselen.     

Modeling Thioredoxin Reductase-Like Activity with Cyclic Selenenyl Sulfides: Participation of an NH⋅⋅⋅Se Hydrogen Bond through Stabilization of the Mixed Se−S Intermediate

At the redox-active center of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), a selenenyl sulfide (Se−S) bond is formed between Cys497 and Sec498, which is activated into the thiolselenolate state ([SH,Se⁻]) by reacting with a nearby dithiol motif ([SH^Cys59,SH^Cys64]) present in the other subunit. This process is achieved through two reversible steps: an attack of a cysteinyl thiol of Cys59 at the Se atom of the Se−S bond and a subsequent attack of a remaining thiol at the S atom of the generated mixed Se−S intermediate. However, it is not clear how the kinetically unfavorable second step progresses smoothly in the catalytic cycle. A model study that used synthetic selenenyl sulfides, which mimic the active site structure of human TrxR comprising Cys497, Sec498, and His472, suggested that His472 can play a key role by forming a hydrogen bond with the Se atom of the mixed Se−S intermediate to facilitate the second step. In addition, the selenenyl sulfides exhibited a defensive ability against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in cultured cells, which suggests the possibility for medicinal applications to control the redox balance in cells.     

Aspects of organochalcogen (S, Se, Te) compounds stabilized by intramolecular coordination

The application of intramolecular coordination in the isolation of novel diaryl diselenides and their derivatives, monomeric chalcogenolato complexes of group 12 metals, glutathione peroxidase mimics, hybrid bi-, tri- and multidentate ligands and selenium-containing azamacrocycles is described.     

Effect of ring strain on nucleophilic substitution at selenium: a computational study of cyclic diselenides and selenenyl sulfides

Nucleophilic substitution reactions of small rings incorporating selenium are examined using computational methods. The potential energy surfaces of HS- and HSe- with 1,2-diselenirane, 1,2-diselenetane, 1,2-diselenolane, and 1,2-diselenane were computed at B3LYP/6-31+G(d) and MP2/6-31+G(d). The reactions of three-, four-, five-, and six-membered rings incorporating the S-Se bond with HS- were computed at B3LYP/6-31+G(d). The strained three- and four-membered diselenides and selenenyl sulfide rings undergo SN2 reactions, while the five- and six-membered rings react via the addition-elimination pathway, a path that invokes a hypercoordinate selenium intermediate. The strain in the small rings precludes the addition of a further ligand to either heteroatom. Substitution at selenium is both kinetically and thermodynamically favored over attack at sulfur.     

Chemistry in Thyroid Gland: Iodothyronine Deiodinases and Anti-Thyroid Drugs

Abstract

The monodeiodination of the prohormone thyroxine (T4) to the biologically active hormone 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (T3) is the first step in thyroid hormone action and the type I iodothyronine deiodinase (ID-I), an enzyme containing selenocysteine in its active site, is responsible for most of this conversion. ID-I is an integral membrane protein present in highest amounts in liver, kidney, and thyroid. In the deiodinase cycle, the selenol group of the enzyme (E-SeH) first reacts with T4 to form a selenenyl iodide (E-SeI) with a release of the deiodinated iodothyronine. Subsequent reaction of the E-SeI with a thiol of other cofactors releases I^? and regenerates the active site. The thiourea drug, 6-n-propylthiouracil (PTU), reacts with the E-SeI intermediate to inhibit the enzyme active site regeneration. Owing to this property, PTU and related sulfur derivatives are often used in the acute treatment of severely hyperthyroid (Graves disease) patients and therefore commonly known as antithyroid drugs. Although the formation of a mixed selenenyl sulfide (ESe-S-PTU) adduct has been proposed to be a possible way of inhibition, it is still a matter of debate whether PTU reacts with a well-defined Se-I bond of it reacts with an equivalent species or directly with the enzyme active site. In view of this, the first successful model studies on the reactivity of PTU towards synthetic organoselenenyl iodides (RSeI) have been carried out and the results will be discussed as a basis for the deiodinase inhibition. On the basis of experimental data, a mechanism for the inhibition of ID-I by thiouracil drugs and possible amino acid residues responsible for the inhibition will be discussed.     

Raman spectroscopic studies of terthiophenes for molecular electronics

The effect of thiol and selenol functionalization on the vibrational spectra and photochemical stability of terthiophene based molecular wires was investigated using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The molecules were found to exhibit markedly different properties at the silver surface of the SERS substrate, despite having almost identical Raman spectra in solution and in the solid state. In contrast to terthiophene (3T), the bisthiolterthiophene (T3) and biselenol-terthiophene (Se3) molecules were stable against photoinduced structural changes when adsorbed to the metal surface at low concentrations. This indicates that the strong bonds to the silver surface, via S or Se terminal atoms, leads to a rapid decay of photoexcited states. Comparison with ab initio calculations shows that both T3 and Se3 bind with only one of the functional groups to the Ag surface.     

Regioselective deiodination of thyroxine by iodothyronine deiodinase mimics: an unusual mechanistic pathway involving cooperative chalcogen and halogen bonding

Iodothyronine deiodinases (IDs) are mammalian selenoenzymes that catalyze the conversion of thyroxine (T4) to 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) and 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (rT3) by the outer- and inner-ring deiodination pathways, respectively. These enzymes also catalyze further deiodination of T3 and rT3 to produce a variety of di- and monoiodo derivatives. In this paper, the deiodinase activity of a series of peri-substituted naphthalenes having different amino groups is described. These compounds remove iodine selectively from the inner-ring of T4 and T3 to produce rT3 and 3,3'-diiodothyronine (3,3'-T2), respectively. The naphthyl-based compounds having two selenols in the peri-positions exhibit much higher deiodinase activity than those having two thiols or a thiol-selenol pair. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the formation of a halogen bond between the iodine and chalcogen (S or Se) and the peri-interaction between two chalcogen atoms (chalcogen bond) are important for the deiodination reactions. Although the formation of a halogen bond leads to elongation of the C-I bond, the chalcogen bond facilitates the transfer of more electron density to the C-I σ* orbitals, leading to a complete cleavage of the C-I bond. The higher activity of amino-substituted selenium compounds can be ascribed to the deprotonation of thiol/selenol moiety by the amino group, which not only increases the strength of halogen bond but also facilitates the chalcogen-chalcogen interactions.     

PREPARATION AND X-RAY CRYSTAL STRUCTURES OF TWO ALIPHATIC SELENENYL BROMIDES STABILIZED BY N─SE COORDINATION

(1R)-2-endo-(Dimethylamino)methyl-2-exo-methoxy-3-endo-camphor- ylselenenyl bromide and its 2-endo-(pyrrolidenyl)methyl analogue were prepared from (1R)-2-endo-acetamidomethyl-2-exo-hydroxy-3-endo-camphoryl diselenide. Both compounds showed an unusual lack of reactivity in electrophilic oxyselenenylation and cyclization reactions that are typical of other selenenyl bromides. X-ray crystallography indicated that both compounds have strong N─Se interactions, with N─Se interatomic distances of ca. 2.1 Å, which diminish the electrophilic character of the selenium atom.     

Theoretical elucidation of the antioxidant mechanism of 1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-2H-imidazole-2-selenol (MSeI)

Theoretical calculations by means of density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level have been performed to elucidate the antioxidant mechanism of 1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-2H-imidazole-2-selenol (MSeI) at the molecular level. The present detailed computational study of individual steps of the mechanism provides energetics and structures of all the intermediates and transition states. DFT results suggest a highly synchronous stepwise mechanism wherein the nucleophilic attack of thiol at the sulfur atom in selenyl sulfide (TS VII-VIII) is found to be the rate-determining step, which initiates the catalytic regeneration of selenol. The current computational studies are in excellent agreement with the mechanism proposed earlier.     

A dipole moment study of the conformational properties of diaryl diselenides and related compounds

The electric dipole moments of the diaryl diselenides (RC₆H₄)₂Se₂ (R  H, 4-F, 4-Br, 4-CH₃, 3-F) were measured in benzene solution at 25 and 45°C. The conformations of these compounds were deduced by matching experimental moments with values calculated for a variety of possible conformations. In the dissolved state the diselenides exist at 25°C in fixed “skew” conformations characterized by dihedral angles of 75–106° between the CSeSe planes, corresponding to the conformational energy minima. At 45°C oscillations about the SeSe bonds are excited in the diphenyl and bis(4-methylphenyl) diselenides, whereas the 4-bromophenyl derivative exhibits free rotation. The fluoro compounds have temperature-independent dipole moments, suggesting “rigid conformations” with dihedral angles of 106° (4-F) and 74.4° (3-F). An analysis of the dipole moments at 25 and 45°C obtained for the compounds (RC₆H₄)₂X₂ (R  H, 3-F, 4-F, 4-Br, 4-CH₃; X  S, Se, Te) showed that the conformational properties of these derivatives change on passing from X  S to X  Te. The observed variations are explicable in terms of a decreasing repulsion between the lone electron pairs of the chalcogen atoms on going from the disulfides to the ditellurides and a concomitant reduction of the energy barrier to rotations about the XX bonds.     

Anti-thyroid drugs and thyroid hormone synthesis: effect of methimazole derivatives on peroxidase-catalyzed reactions

Syntheses and characterization of the selenium analogue (MSeI) of anti-thyroid drug methimazole and a series of organoselenium compounds bearing N-methylimidazole pharmacophore are described. In contrast to the sulfur compound that exists predominantly in its thione form, the selenium analogue exists in a selenol form, which spontaneously oxidizes in air to produce the corresponding diselenide. The reduction of the diselenide by GSH or NaBH(4) affords the biologically active selenol, which effectively inhibits the lactoperoxidase (LPO) activity in vitro. The monoselenides having N-methylimidazole moiety are found to be much less active than the selenol, suggesting that the presence of a selenol moiety is important for the LPO inhibition. The kinetic and mechanistic studies reveal that MSeI inhibits the LPO activity by reducing the H(2)O(2), providing a novel method to reversibly inhibit the enzyme. Although MSeI strongly inhibits LPO, the enzyme's activity can be completely recovered by increasing the H(2)O(2) concentration. On the other hand, the inhibition by methimazole (MMI), the sulfur analogue, cannot be reversed by increasing the H(2)O(2) concentration, leading to a complete inactivation of the enzyme. The reversible inhibition of LPO by some of the selenium derivatives is correlated with their glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, and the high GPx activity of the selenium compounds as compared with their sulfur analogues suggests that the selenium derivatives may protect the thyroid gland from oxidative damage.