@article{TurriniKroepflJensenetal.2018,
  author    = {Turrini, Nikolaus G. and Kroepfl, Nina and Jensen, Kenneth Bendix and Reiter, Tamara C. and Francesconi, Kevin A. and Schwerdtle, Tanja and Kroutil, Wolfgang and Kuehnelt, Doris},
  title     = {Biosynthesis and isolation of selenoneine from genetically modified fission yeast},
  series = {Metallomics : integrated biometal science},
  volume    = {10},
  journal   = {Metallomics : integrated biometal science},
  number    = {10},
  publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {1756-5901},
  doi       = {10.1039/c8mt00200b},
  pages     = {1532 -- 1538},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Selenoneine, a naturally occurring form of selenium, is the selenium analogue of ergothioneine, a sulfur species with health relevance not only as a purported antioxidant but likely also beyond. Selenoneine has been speculated to exhibit similar effects. To study selenoneine's health properties as well as its metabolic transformation, the pure compound is required. Chemical synthesis of selenoneine, however, is challenging and biosynthetic approaches have been sought. We herein report the biosynthesis and isolation of selenoneine from genetically modified fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe grown in a medium containing sodium selenate. After cell lysis and extraction with methanol, selenoneine was purified by three consecutive preparative reversed-phase HPLC steps. The product obtained at the mg level was characterised by high resolution mass spectrometry, NMR and HPLC/ICPMS. Biosynthesis was found to be a promising alternative to chemical synthesis, and should be suitable for upscaling to produce higher amounts of this important selenium species in the future.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MeyerMatissekMuelleretal.2014,
  author    = {Meyer, S{\"o}ren and Matissek, M. and M{\"u}ller, Sandra Marie and Taleshi, M. S. and Ebert, Franziska and Francesconi, Kevin A. and Schwerdtle, Tanja},
  title     = {In vitro toxicological characterisation of three arsenic-containing hydrocarbons},
  series = {Metallomics},
  volume    = {2014},
  journal   = {Metallomics},
  number    = {6},
  issn      = {1756-591X},
  doi       = {10.1039/c4mt00061g},
  pages     = {1023 -- 1033},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {Arsenic-containing hydrocarbons are one group of fat-soluble organic arsenic compounds (arsenolipids) found in marine fish and other seafood. A risk assessment of arsenolipids is urgently needed, but has not been possible because of the total lack of toxicological data. In this study the cellular toxicity of three arsenic-containing hydrocarbons was investigated in cultured human bladder (UROtsa) and liver (HepG2) cells. Cytotoxicity of the arsenic-containing hydrocarbons was comparable to that of arsenite, which was applied as the toxic reference arsenical. A large cellular accumulation of arsenic, as measured by ICP-MS/MS, was observed after incubation of both cell lines with the arsenolipids. Moreover, the toxic mode of action shown by the three arsenic-containing hydrocarbons seemed to differ from that observed for arsenite. Evidence suggests that the high cytotoxic potential of the lipophilic arsenicals results from a decrease in the cellular energy level. This first in vitro based risk assessment cannot exclude a risk to human health related to the presence of arsenolipids in seafood, and indicates the urgent need for further toxicity studies in experimental animals to fully assess this possible risk.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MeyerRaberEbertetal.2015,
  author    = {Meyer, S. and Raber, G. and Ebert, Franziska and Leffers, L. and M{\"u}ller, Sandra Marie and Taleshi, M. S. and Francesconi, Kevin A. and Schwerdtle, Tanja},
  title     = {In vitro toxicological characterisation of arsenic-containing fatty acids and three of their metabolites},
  series = {Toxicology research},
  volume    = {5},
  journal   = {Toxicology research},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {2045-4538},
  doi       = {10.1039/c5tx00122f},
  pages     = {1289 -- 1296},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Arsenic-containing fatty acids are a group of fat-soluble arsenic species (arsenolipids) which are present in marine fish and other seafood. Recently, it has been shown that arsenic-containing hydrocarbons, another group of arsenolipids, exert toxicity in similar concentrations comparable to arsenite although the toxic modes of action differ. Hence, a risk assessment of arsenolipids is urgently needed. In this study the cellular toxicity of a saturated (AsFA 362) and an unsaturated (AsFA 388) arsenic-containing fatty acid and three of their proposed metabolites (DMAV, DMAPr and thio-DMAPr) were investigated in human liver cells (HepG2). Even though both arsenic-containing fatty acids were less toxic as compared to arsenic-containing hydrocarbons and arsenite, significant effects were observable at μM concentrations. DMAV causes effects in a similar concentration range and it could be seen that it is metabolised to its highly toxic thio analogue thio-DMAV in HepG2 cells. Nevertheless, DMAPr and thio-DMAPr did not exert any cytotoxicity. In summary, our data indicate that risks to human health related to the presence of arsenic-containing fatty acids in marine food cannot be excluded. This stresses the need for a full in vitro and in vivo toxicological characterisation of these arsenolipids.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KroepflFrancesconiSchwerdtleetal.2019,
  author    = {Kroepfl, Nina and Francesconi, Kevin A. and Schwerdtle, Tanja and Kuehnelt, Doris},
  title     = {Selenoneine and ergothioneine in human blood cells determined simultaneously by HPLC/ICP-QQQ-MS},
  series = {Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry},
  volume    = {34},
  journal   = {Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {0267-9477},
  doi       = {10.1039/c8ja00276b},
  pages     = {127 -- 134},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {The possible relevance to human health of selenoneine and its sulfur-analogue ergothioneine has generated interest in their quantitative determination in biological samples. To gain more insight into the similarities and differences of these two species, a method for their simultaneous quantitative determination in human blood cells using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled to inductively coupled plasma triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QQQ-MS) is presented. Spectral interferences hampering the determination of sulfur and selenium by ICPMS are overcome by introducing oxygen to the reaction cell. To access selenoneine and ergothioneine in the complex blood matrix, lysis of the cells with cold water followed by cut-off filtration (3000 Da) is performed. Recoveries based on blood cells spiked with selenoneine and ergothioneine were between 80\% and 85\%. The standard deviation of the method was around 0.10 mg S per L for ergothioneine (corresponding to relative standard deviations (RSD) between 10-1\% for ergothioneine concentrations of 1-10 mg S per L) and 0.25 g Se per L for selenoneine (RSDs of 25-2\% for concentrations of 1-10 g Se per L). The method was applied to blood cell samples from three volunteers which showed selenoneine and ergothioneine concentrations in the range of 3.25 to 7.35 g Se per L and 0.86 to 6.44 mg S per L, respectively. The method is expected to be of wide use in future studies investigating the dietary uptake of selenoneine and ergothioneine and their relevance in human health.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{FinkeWandtEbertetal.2020,
  author    = {Finke, Hannah and Wandt, Viktoria Klara Veronika and Ebert, Franziska and Guttenberger, Nikolaus and Glabonjat, Ronald A. and Stiboller, Michael and Francesconi, Kevin A. and Raber, Georg and Schwerdtle, Tanja},
  title     = {Toxicological assessment of arsenic-containing phosphatidylcholines in HepG2 cells},
  volume    = {12},
  number    = {7},
  publisher = {Oxford University},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  doi       = {10.1039/d0mt00073f},
  pages     = {1159 -- 1170},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Arsenolipids include a wide range of organic arsenic species that occur naturally in seafood and thereby contribute to human arsenic exposure. Recently arsenic-containing phosphatidylcholines (AsPCs) were identified in caviar, fish, and algae. In this first toxicological assessment of AsPCs, we investigated the stability of both the oxo- and thioxo-form of an AsPC under experimental conditions, and analyzed cell viability, indicators of genotoxicity and biotransformation in human liver cancer cells (HepG2). Precise toxicity data could not be obtained owing to the low solubility in the cell culture medium of the thioxo-form, and the ease of hydrolysis of the oxo-form, and to a lesser degree the thioxo-form. Hydrolysis resulted amongst others in the respective constituent arsenic-containing fatty acid (AsFA). Incubation of the cells with oxo-AsPC resulted in a toxicity similar to that determined for the hydrolysis product oxo-AsFA alone, and there were no indices for genotoxicity. Furthermore, the oxo-AsPC was readily taken up by the cells resulting in high cellular arsenic concentrations (50 μM incubation: 1112 ± 146 μM As cellular), whereas the thioxo-AsPC was substantially less bioavailable (50 μM incubation: 293 ± 115 μM As cellular). Speciation analysis revealed biotransformation of the AsPCs to a series of AsFAs in the culture medium, and, in the case of the oxo-AsPC, to as yet unidentified arsenic species in cell pellets. The results reveal the difficulty of toxicity studies of AsPCs in vitro, indicate that their toxicity might be largely governed by their arsenic fatty acid content and suggest a multifaceted human metabolism of food derived complex arsenolipids.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{EbertZiemannWandtetal.2020,
  author    = {Ebert, Franziska and Ziemann, Vanessa and Wandt, Viktoria Klara Veronika and Witt, Barbara and M{\"u}ller, Sandra Marie and Guttenberger, Nikolaus and Bankoglu, Ezgi Eyluel and Stopper, Helga and Raber, Georg and Francesconi, Kevin A. and Schwerdtle, Tanja},
  title     = {Cellular toxicological characterization of a thioxolated arsenic-containing hydrocarbon},
  series = {Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology},
  volume    = {61},
  journal   = {Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {M{\"u}nchen},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126563},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Arsenolipids, especially arsenic-containing hydrocarbons (AsHC), are an emerging class of seafood originating contaminants. Here we toxicologically characterize a recently identified oxo-AsHC 332 metabolite, thioxo-AsHC 348 in cultured human liver (HepG2) cells. Compared to results of previous studies of the parent compound oxo-AsHC 332, thioxo-AsHC 348 substantially affected cell viability in the same concentration range but exerted about 10-fold lower cellular bioavailability. Similar to oxo-AsHC 332, thioxo-AsHC 348 did not substantially induce oxidative stress nor DNA damage. Moreover, in contrast to oxo-AsHC 332 mitochondria seem not to be a primary subcellular toxicity target for thioxo-AsHC 348. This study indicates that thioxo-AsHC 348 is at least as toxic as its parent compound oxo-AsHC 332 but very likely acts via a different mode of toxic action, which still needs to be identified.},
  language  = {en}
}