Organoselenotriazóis atenuam o estresse oxidativo induzido por disfunção mitocondrial em Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Organic selenium molecules have many described pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory and anti-tumoral, which are mainly due to their antioxidant effects. As they are promising pharmacological agents, their synthesis has grown significantly. Once many new molecules synthesized every day, the use of a simple animal model, such as the Caenorhabditis elegans, is highly valuable for initial toxicity and pharmacological potential evaluation of these molecules. The goal of this study was to evaluate the toxicity and the antioxidant capacity of three arylselanyl-alkyl-1,2,3-triazoles in C. elegans. The animals were exposed to the molecules in liquid media for 30 minutes at the first larval stage (L1). There were no toxic effects over animals’ viability within the range of tested concentrations (1μM-1000 μM). Exposure to 10 μM of arylselanyl-alkyl-1,2,3-triazoles has partially reversed the stress induced by the pesticide paraquat (1 mM), which is a mitochondrial toxin. Only SeTz-2 (10 μM) improved the viability of the animals exposed to H2O2 (0,5 mM). The arylselanyl-alkyl-1,2,3-triazoles also improved mev-1 mutants’ lifespan, which is normally decreased by excessive mitochondrial ROS production due to an alteration in a subunit of their mitochondrial complex 2. Also, the molecules were able to reduce ROS levels measured by the fluorescent probe H2DCF-DA, as well as they also reduced catalase enzyme’ activity. Based on our findings, it is possible to suggest that these molecules have antioxidant activity in C. elegans, mainly when facing mitochondrial oxidative stress.