Selenoprotein S: A versatile disordered protein.

Selenoprotein S (selenos) is a small, intrinsically disordered membrane protein that is associated with various cellular functions, such as inflammatory processes, cellular stress response, protein quality control, and signaling pathways. It is primarily known for its contribution to the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway, which governs the extraction of misfolded proteins or misassembled protein complexes from the ER to the cytosol for degradation by the proteasome. However, selenos's other cellular roles in signaling are equally vital, including the control of transcription factors and cytokine levels. Consequently, genetic polymorphisms of selenos are associated with increased risk for diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular diseases, while high expression levels correlate with poor prognosis in several cancers. Its inhibitory role in cytokine secretion is also exploited by viruses. Since selenos binds multiple protein complexes, however, its specific contributions to various cellular pathways and diseases have been difficult to establish. Thus, the precise cellular functions of selenos and their interconnectivity have only recently begun to emerge. This review aims to summarize recent insights into the structure, interactome, and cellular roles of selenos.

Comparison of TNM-based stage grouping versus UICC/AJCC stage grouping (7th edition) in malignant parotid gland tumors.

BACKGROUND: Although the UICC/AJCC's TNM staging of the 7th edition was improved in 2002, there are still shortcomings concerning the prognostic quality. Alternative TNM-based stage-groupings such as the T and N Integer Score (TANIS) where shown to have a better prognostic quality for various kinds of head and neck tumors in the past. The aim of the study was to compare the prognostic value of the 7th edition of the UICC/AJCC TNM-classification for carcinoma of the parotid gland with different TNM-based stage groupings. METHODS: The retrospective analysis included 180 patients with carcinoma of the parotid gland diagnosed between 1986 and 2007. The stage grouping system of the 7th edition of the UICC/AJCC and TNM-based stage-groupings (TANIS-3, TANIS-8, Snyderman, Berg and Hart) were tested for their prognostic significance. Overall survival (OS) was plotted by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Prognostic factors were identified through univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: In univariate analysis all stage-groupings had a highly significant impact on overall survival (p<0.05), however in multivariate analysis, only the TANIS-8 scheme (p=0.008) and Snyderman scheme (p=0.047) predicted OS, while the UICC/AJCC-classification did not predict OS significantly (p=0.381). CONCLUSION: In comparison to other TNM-based stage groupings the UICC/AJCC-classification did not provide significant prediction of OS, while alternative stage-groupings such as the TANIS-8 had a higher prognostic value.