Lack of Selenoproteins Linked to Prostate Cancer

Researchers working with a transgenic mouse model have reported that an insufficiency of selenium-containing proteins (selenoproteins) was directly related to the development of prostate cancer.

Investigators at the University of Illinois (Chicago, USA) created their model by breeding two transgenic animals: mice with reduced selenoprotein levels because of the expression of an altered selenocysteine-tRNA, and mice that developed prostate cancer because of the targeted expression of the SV40 large T and small t oncogenes in the prostate gland.

The resulting bigenic animals and control mice were assessed for the presence, degree, and progression of pre-cancerous lesions and prostate tumors. More...