Ebselen (2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3[2H]-one) mimics the activity of glutathione peroxidase [Biochem. Pharmacol. 33 (1984) 3235], acts as a substrate for thioredoxin reductase [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (2002) 8579]. The present study focused on the cellular mechanism of its action against oxidative stress by using HT22 cells, a mouse neuroblastoma of hippocampal origin. Ebselen protected HT22 cells against death induced by glutamate and hydrogen peroxide but not against that by tumor necrosis factor alpha. Oxidative glutamate toxicity is initiated by depletion of total glutathione, and ebselen inhibited the decrease in glutathione and increased its basal level. Although glutamate increased intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), ebselen suppressed their increase. Ebselen reduced the basal levels of ROS when it was applied in control cells. Ebselen also removed ROS from cells that had accumulated a level of them. The compound had a significant trolox equivalent activity concentration value in a cell-free system, suggesting that it has a direct ROS-scavenging capacity. Finally, ebselen-induced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein. These results indicate that ebselen protects neuronal cells against the oxidative stress at multiple steps, including an increase in glutathione, a ROS-scavenging activity and the induction of HO-1 protein.