Selenium enrichment of yeast changes the expression of certain proteins, a number which have reported anti-cancer effects.
An essential trace element, selenium acts as an antioxidant to protect cells from the free radical damage that causes aging and is linked to many age-related diseases. Karam El-Bayoumy, from Penn State College of Medicine (Pennsylvania, USA), and colleagues performed proteomic analysis of both regular and selenium-enriched yeast. Finding that selenium-enriched yeast produced a change in 37 proteins, a number of which are involved in the carcinogenesis process, the team urges for preclinical animal models and pilot human clinical trials to ascertain the potential beneficial anti-cancer effects.
