Fisheries Research Agency

Kikkoman Corporation

Yumiko Yamashita

Michiaki Yamashita

Takeshi Yabu

Keiko Kurosawa

Seiichi Hara

Keiichi Ichikawa

Yasutomo Shinohara

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for producing selenoneine that allows production of selenoneine at higher yields as compared with a conventional technology, and, therefore, enables selenoneine production on an industrial scale. This purpose can be achieved by a method for producing selenoneine, comprising the step of applying histidine and a selenium compound to a transformant that has a gene encoding an enzyme of (1) below introduced therein and that can overexpress the introduced gene, to obtain selenoneine. (1) An enzyme that catalyzes a reaction in which hercynylselenocysteine is produced from histidine and selenocysteine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine and iron (II).

Method for producing selenoneine

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for producing selenoneine that allows production of selenoneine at higher yields as compared with a conventional technology, and, therefore, enables selenoneine production on an industrial scale. This purpose can be achieved by a method for producing selenoneine, comprising the step of applying histidine and a selenium compound to a transformant that has a gene encoding an enzyme of (1) below introduced therein and that can overexpress the introduced gene, to obtain selenoneine.

The invention provides a method of improving an antioxidant effect in a redox pathway that involves selenium in a subject, an in vitro method of inhibiting oxidation in a cell or tissue, and an in vitro method of promoting proliferation of a cell, by use of a selenium-containing compound of chemical formula 1: 

Selenium-containing compound

A novel selenium-containing compound, a method of producing the selenium-containing compound, an analysis method using the selenium-containing compound, and use of the selenium-containing compound as an antioxidant, are disclosed. A novel selenium-containing compound shown by any of chemical formulas 1 to 4 is obtained by extracting a selenium-containing compound from a sample using an organic solvent or water, and purifying the selenium-containing compound. The novel selenium-containing compound may be used for a novel analysis method, or may be used as an antioxidant.

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Yokohama, Japan

Yumiko Yamashita