Institute of
bioorganic chemistry

Researchers from the Group of in silico analysis of membrane proteins structure and the Laboratory of biomolecular modeling of IBCh RAS have predicted the structure of the complex between lantibiotic nisin with the bacterial cell wall precursor — lipid II — on the membrane surface. Using molecular simulations it was demonstrated that the high selectivity of nisin/lipid II interaction is explained by the ability of lipid II’s pyrophosphate group to form a pharmacophore on the bilayer surface that cannot be formed by phospholipids. It was shown that molecular recognition occurs via the induced-fit mechanism and is determined by the properties of the environment. Only one or two states within the conformational ensembles of both partners were found to be suitable for complex formation. These results may be employed for further development of new nisin-based antibiotics. The study is published in Scientific Reports. Learn more

The new research about metal nanoclusters performed by a team of authors from the Scientific Clinical Center for Physico-Chemical Medicine, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and IBCh RAS was recently published in Materials and Design journal. Metal nanoclusters, consisting of several tens of metal atoms and having a size of less than 2 nm, are a promising material due to their unique optical properties that appear due to the splitting of electron energy spectrum in metal into discrete energy levels as a result of quantum-size effects. The researchers of the Electron microscopy group of our institute carried out an important part of the work on direct visualization of the obtained structures, as well as on the measurement of energy dispersive X-ray spectra. Learn more

Researchers of the Laboratory of plant functional genomics and proteomics, IBCh RAS, in collaboration with Laboratory of molecular basis of plant stress resistance, IBCh RAS, and James Hutton Institute (United Kingdom) published a review article in the international peer-reviewed scientific journal New Phytologist (IF = 7.29). This review “The role of chloroplast protein remodeling in stress responses and shaping of the plant peptidome” is focused on processes of reorganization of the chloroplast proteome under stress conditions and on the roles of bioactive peptides generated from chloroplast proteins. This work was supported by the Government of Russian Federation Grant No. 14.W03.31.0003. Learn more

The movie Avatar evoked an imaginary world of lush bioluminescent jungles. Now the popular fascination for sustainably glowing foliage is being realized through advances in designer genetics. This week in Nature Biotechnology, scientists have announced the feasibility of creating plants that produce their own visible luminescence.  The scientists from the IBCH RAS in collaboration with russian and foreign colleagues revealed that bioluminescence found in some mushrooms is metabolically similar to the natural processes common among plants. By inserting DNA obtained from the mushroom, the scientists were able to create plants that glow much brighter than previously possible. Learn more

Small molecules play a critical role in many biological processes and are used as drugs and other research tools. As a result of joint work carried out by the Laboratory of bioinformatics approaches in combinatorial chemistry and biology and a group of heterocyclic compounds with a support of Laboratory of biomolecular NMR-spectroscopy, a novel unique method for the synthesis of spirocyclic derivatives based on the use of a new class of cyclopropanes was developed. The results of the study are published in the Organic Letters journal. Learn more