Studies on selenoproteins in bovine kidneys by gel chromatography and neutron activation

Selenium at low concentrations has been claimed to be an element which is essential for life and growth. In recent years, selenium attracted increasing interest from researchers around the world because of its possible biological functions in preventing cancer, enhancing the immune system, slowing the aging process, and stimulating sexual activity. In living matter, selenium is mainly incorporated with macromolecules. Much of the metabolic behavior, biological effects, and involvement in homeostatic mechanism of this element may very well depend on the presence of the particular type of selenoproteins in the system. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) in conjunction with several bioanalytical techniques can be used to characterize metalloproteins in general. In a recent study, the distribution of trace elements in subcellular fractions of bovine kidney has been reported. The present work deals with the application of NAA together with other techniques to the isolation and characterization of selenoproteins in bovine kidneys with particular emphasis on the NAA method developed