Selenoprotein N: Its role in disease

Abstract

Selenoprotein N is among the newly identified selenoproteins, initially discovered in silico with no known molecular function. It has become the focus of attention because mutations in the selenoprotein N gene are linked to a group of muscle disorders, now referred as SEPN1-related myopathies. An emerging view arising from recent findings is that the loss of selenoprotein N leads to cellular sensitivity to oxidative stress and loss of calcium homeostasis. Studies of animal models for SEPN1-Related Myopathies revealed the fate of sensitized muscle may depend on stresses to which it is subjected, and defects in the function of selenoprotein N-deficient muscle progenitor cells during development in zebrafish embryos or during muscle regeneration in fully developed mouse muscle. Dysfunction of these different processes raises significant questions regarding which of the phenotypic manifestations of SEPN1-Related Myopathies are initiated by events during development and which are progressive in nature arising from dysfunction of mature muscle.