Selenium- and Tellurium-Containing Multifunctional Redox Agents as Biochemical Redox Modulators with Selective Cytotoxicity

Various human diseases, including different types of cancer, are associated with a disturbed intracellular redox balance and oxidative stress (OS). The past decade has witnessed the emergence of redox-modulating compounds able to utilize such pre-existing disturbances in the redox state of sick cells for therapeutic advantage. Selenium- and tellurium-based agents turn the oxidizing redox environment present in certain cancer cells into a lethal cocktail of reactive species that push these cells over a critical redox threshold and ultimately kill them through apoptosis. This kind of toxicity is highly selective: normal, healthy cells remain largely unaffected, since changes to their naturally low levels of oxidizing species produce little effect. To further improve selectivity, multifunctional sensor/effector agents are now required that recognize the biochemical signature of OS in target cells. The synthesis of such compounds provides interesting challenges for chemistry in the future.