Fig. 1

a TEM image of selenium nanoparticles extracted and purified from B. licheniformis JS2. Image was captured on a JEOL JEM 2100 TEM microscope at 200 kV. b Schematic representation of the proposed mechanism of selenium induced necroptosis in PC-3 cells. Exposure of SeNP to the PC-3 cells cause their cellular internalization and production of mitochondrial ROS which leads to ATP depletion and thus cell death. Exposure to SeNP also activates TNF and transcription factor, IRF1, responsible for the necroptosis through RIP1 protein. A treatment of necrostatin-1 along with SeNP prevents SeNP induced cell death