A Novel Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the 3′ Untranslated Region of Human Glutathione Peroxidase 4 Influences Lipoxygenase Metabolism

Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for human health. The biological roles of the essential micronutrient Se are attributed to its presence in a range of 20–30 selenoproteins including the cytosolic and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidases (GPX1 and GPX4). It has been suggested that GPX4 may play a role in regulation of leukotriene biosynthesis and thus inflammation. In eukaryotes Se is incorporated into selenoproteins as the amino acid selenocysteine in a process requiring a stem-loop within the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of the mRNA. In this study the region of the GPX4 gene corresponding to the 3′UTR was scanned for mutations in a group of 66 volunteers. The data show a T/C variant at position 718. The distribution of this SNP in our population was 34% CC, 25% TT and 41% TC; i.e., it is in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Individuals of different genotypes exhibited significant differences in the levels of lymphocyte 5-lipoxygenase total products, with C718 showing increased levels of those products compared to T718 and T/C718 (36% and 44% increases, respectively). The data suggest that the SNP718 that we have identified has functional effects and support the hypothesis that GPX4 plays a regulatory role in leukotriene biosynthesis.