Institute of
bioorganic chemistry

Bioluminescence – a widespread in the natural world process of “cold light” emission by living organisms, is based on an enzyme-dependent biochemical oxidation reaction in which energy is released in the form of light. Out of 40 presumed bioluminescent systems only for nine the structures of substrates - luciferins were elucidated, while a complete description of the luciferin biosynthesis pathway along with the corresponding enzymes was done only for two. A collaborative effort by an international team of scientists led to the discovery of new luciferin from marine polychaetes Odontosyllis undecimdonta. The characterization of three key low-molecular-weight components of Odontosyllis bioluminescence system, presented in an article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, further enabled the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of bioluminescence of this organism. Learn more

In addition to the "supporting" role, the extracellular matrix (ECM) affects the phenotype and behavior of the cell. The largest structures of ECM are elastic fibers (EF), which are mainly composed of elastin. Elastogenesis is a tightly regulated process involving the sialidase activity of the Neuraminidase-1 (Neu-1), which is part of the elastin receptor. Neu-1 also serves as a sensor of elastin degradation, it is able to regulate the activation of TGF-beta and possibly is involved in remodeling of EFs. The article, published in the journal Matrix Biology, provides an overview of the results of long-term studies of molecular mechanisms of life regulation of elastic fibers, in which Neu-1 plays a key role. A number of important data, in particular, the existence of the membrane-bound form of Neu-1 and its ability to dimerize, was first obtained by the French-Russian research team from the University of Reims and IBCH RAS (Lab. of biomolecular modeling).

Researches from the Laboratory of biocatalysis of IBCH RAS in collaboration with the Scripps Research Institute and Xiamen University demonstrated for the first time that targeting the CDR3 regions of malignant T cell clones by cell therapy is a viable approach to eliminate leukemia cells. The study was supported by RSF and published in Leukemia.

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Malfunctioning of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) is observed in various mental and neurodegenerative diseases, therefore, the search and design of nAChR ligands is of particular interest. Researchers from the Department of Molecular Neuroimmune Signalling of IBCH, Russian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Florence (Italy) designed new nicotine analogues and revealed their high affinity for α4β2 and α7 nAChRs using radioligand binding assay. In the electrophysiological and calcium imaging experiments some selected compounds showed α7 and α3β2 agonistic properties, while on the α4β2, compounds 1a and 2a behaved as antagonists. Results of the study are published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Regulatory T cells (Treg) is subpopulation of T helper lymphocytes which possesses immune suppressive properties. Treg are critical in protection from excessive immune response and autoimmunity. Unique functions of Treg are defined by transcription factor Fop3 that controls Treg-specific expression of genes. Dr. Yury Rubtsov from the Dept. of functioning of living systems in cooperation with colleagues from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York City) studied a role of Foxp3-related protein, Foxp1, specifically in the murine Treg. In the absence of Foxp1, Treg displayed distorted Foxp3 chromatin binding which led to decreased sensitivity of the cells to IL-2 and diminished suppressive capacity. Results of the study are published in Nature Immunology.