Institute of
bioorganic chemistry

Researchers from Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical medicine and IBCh RAS, in collaboration with Russian colleagues developed simple and robust sensors for detecting microchanges in intracellular pH. The sensors are based on unusual DNA structures - i-motifs, that are found in cancer- and neudegeneration-related genes. Given their intrinsic sensitivity to minor pH changes within the physiological range, such DNA structures can be used as core elements of biocompatible sensors. Using stopped-flow techniques and FRET-melting assays, i-motifs with fast responses to pH alterations were selected. For the leading fast sensor, the labeling scheme was optimized and intracellular calibration was performed. Due to its favorable kinetic characteristics, the sensor is potentially applicable for monitoring proton dynamics in the nucleus or pH-jumps observed upon neuron activation. The research was published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics. Learn more

Researchers from the Federal Research Center "Crystallography and Photonics" and the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, together with colleagues from Austria, Germany and France, have developed a technology for 1D-nanostructure fabrication. One-dimensional upconversion nanocrystals (UCNPs) with unique optical properties and morphology have been prepared by the laser-induced recrystallization of nanostate. Exposure to picosecond laser irradiation of UCNPs with a core/shell structure (β-Na_1.5Y_1.5F₆:Yb³⁺, Tm³⁺/β-Na_1.5Y_1.5F₆) led to a controlled dynamic nanotransformation of luminescent 3D-structure into 1D with inherent optical properties through the formation of particles with unusual “medusa”-like architecture. The proposed technology based on picosecond laser treatment enables UCNP surface hydrophilization and performs the transformation from "nano" to "nano", which ensures the preparation of nanoagents for biovisualization and therapy. The research was published in the journal Nano Research.

Researchers from the Laboratory of Molecular Bases of Embryogenesis (Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS), in technical cooperation with colleagues from the Department of Metabolism and Redox Biology (Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS), the Laboratory of Genomics and Epigenomics of Vertebrates in the Federal Center "Fundamentals of Biotechnology" RAS, as well as with colleagues from the Cell Motility Group of the Institute of Protein Research RAS, discovered a previously unknown mechanism of the regulation of the activity of genes that determine the pluripotent status of the embryonic stem cells. The article was published in Cell Reports. Learn more

Researchers of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, IBCh RAS, in collaboration with Russian colleagues have shown that the strategy of targeting of anticancer toxins to two different surface antigens on the surface of a cancer cell is effective in the treatment of not only primary solid tumors, but also distant metastases. The proposed approach can serve as a potential therapeutic strategy that surpasses mono-specific targeting strategies in the anti-cancer efficacy. Results of the research are published in Cancers. Learn more

Unlike the tightly controlled replication of DNA in living cells, PCR amplification, a “workhorse” of molecular biology, balances between simplicity and accuracy. Conventional “bulk” PCR often yields inefficient and nonuniform amplification of complex templates in DNA libraries, introducing unwanted biases. Researchers from the Laboratory of biocatalysis, Laboratory of proteolytic enzyme chemistry, Laboratory of bioinformatics approaches in combinatorial chemistry and biology, Laboratory of hormonal regulation proteins IBCh RAS together with their Russian and foreign colleagues showed that amplification of single DNA molecules encapsulated in a myriad of emulsion droplets (emulsion PCR, ePCR) allows the mitigation of this problem. The results of this study are published in PNAS. Learn more