Influence of germination with different selenium solutions on nutritional value and cytotoxicity of lupin seeds

The effect of different selenium solutions during germination of lupin seeds (Lupinus angustifolius L. cv. Zapaton) on the content of total selenium, protein, amino acids, soluble carbohydrates, total antioxidant activity, and cytotoxicity on HL-60 human leukemic cell line has been studied. Seeds were germinated in the presence of selenite (Na2SeO3) or selenate (Na2SeO4) solutions at different concentrations (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 mg/L) for 5 days at either 20 or 25 °C. The addition of inorganic Se forms significantly increased Se content in lupin sprouts in a dose-dependent manner. The highest Se content in lupin sprouts was observed when germination was carried out with selenate solutions at 20 °C (11 μg/g of dw) or 25 °C (14 μg/g of dw). The Se-enriched sprouts presented an improvement in antioxidant activity (up to 117.8 and 103.5 μmol of Trolox/g of dw) as well as in essential amino acid content, and no cytotoxicity was observed on HL-60 human leukemic cells. Lupin seeds germinated with 8 mg/L selenate solutions for 5 days at 20 °C exhibited a higher germination rate (>90%) and a higher concentration of some essential amino acids than those obtained in selenite solutions in the same germination conditions. Therefore, the employment of selenate solutions at a concentration of 8 mg/L and germination for 5 days at 20 °C may be suggested for the production of Se-enriched lupin sproutsWe are indebted to Dr. H. Zieliníski for helpful discussion.Peer reviewe

EU-OPENSCREEN:a novel collaborative approach to facilitate chemical biology

Abstract Compound screening in biological assays and subsequent optimization of hits is indispensable for the development of new molecular research tools and drug candidates. To facilitate such discoveries, the European Research Infrastructure EU-OPENSCREEN was founded recently with the support of its member countries and the European Commission. Its distributed character harnesses complementary knowledge, expertise, and instrumentation in the discipline of chemical biology from 20 European partners, and its open working model ensures that academia and industry can readily access EU-OPENSCREEN’s compound collection, equipment, and generated data. To demonstrate the power of this collaborative approach, this perspective article highlights recent projects from EU-OPENSCREEN partner institutions. These studies yielded (1) 2-aminoquinazolin-4(3H)-ones as potential lead structures for new antimalarial drugs, (2) a novel lipodepsipeptide specifically inducing apoptosis in cells deficient for the pVHL tumor suppressor, (3) small-molecule-based ROCK inhibitors that induce definitive endoderm formation and can potentially be used for regenerative medicine, (4) potential pharmacological chaperones for inborn errors of metabolism and a familiar form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and (5) novel tankyrase inhibitors that entered a lead-to-candidate program. Collectively, these findings highlight the benefits of small-molecule screening, the plethora of assay designs, and the close connection between screening and medicinal chemistry within EU-OPENSCREEN