Applications of a fluorescent nanoprobe-based visual tool using selenium nanoparticles on cadmium-induced liver fibrosis

Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential heavy metal that enters the body through the food chain, accumulating in various organs, especially in the liver, where it can cause liver fibrosis. Selenium (Se), an essential trace element, can inhibit heavy metal toxicity by affecting antioxidant and chelating properties. Also, Se mainly exists as selenocysteine (Sec) in humans. In addition, there are some shortcomings in the current diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a visualization tool to study and assess the antagonistic effects of selenium and cadmium in a mouse liver fiber model. In this work, the antagonistic effect of Se on Cd in mice was evaluated using the therapeutic effect of Se on liver fibrosis using selenocysteine nanoprobe GC-Sec as a visual tool. Compared with the Cd-treated group, the fluorescence produced by GC-Sec was significantly attenuated in the mice images of the Se + Cd group, indicating that Sec was depleted and its expression level was reduced in the liver. Additionally, serum concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were reduced, the liver texture became softer, and diffuse intrahepatic sinusoidal stasis was reduced, indicating that free Cd was depleted in the liver. Impressively, the simultaneous depletion of Sec and Cd suggested that we successfully observed the antagonism of Se on Cd with the aid of GC-Sec in Cd-induced liver fibrosis mice models, suggesting the newly constructed visualization tool can provide a powerful molecular tool for rapid evaluation of Se-Cd interact ion and imaging in future.