Laboratory of Ecological Biochemistry

Laboratory of Ecological Biochemistry

Our Laboratory of Ecological Biochemistry operates to develop students’ skills in working with biological objects and with special experimental equipment. We encourage their participation in our research activities; as a result, our students write and successfully defend their Bachelor’s and Master’s research papers, enter PhD courses and defend their theses.

Our researches are now undertaken in several fields.

I. Influence of Nanomaterials Exerted upon Living Systems

Nanotechnologies are rapidly developing in the field of space researches, in electronics, in power engineering, in Biology, and in Medicine. Small sizes and a large specific surface of nanomaterials cause their high chemical activity; these two factors enable them to penetrate living organisms when breathing, through their skin covers, and to influence them at the cellular level. Owing to that, our researches of metabolism and toxic properties of nanomaterials began practically at once after they had become available for full-scale research activities. The staff of our Laboratory has been researching the influence of nanomaterials exerted upon living systems for several years.

When undertaking researches to estimate the biocompatibility of nanocarbon materials, we use the following methods:

Spectrophotometric analysis of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids in blood plasma and in tissues;
Determination of fermentation activity of proteins;
Morphofunctional estimation of blood and tissue rates.

II. Researching the influence of mineral raw materials of natural origin exerted upon living organisms

One of our research directions is estimating the sulphide-silt mud and bischofite-containing brine of saline medicinal lakes in Astrakhan Region, which influence the metabolic systems of living organisms and as the biophysical parameters of skin. Our Laboratory has set up its own small-business enterprise (the Nika LLC), which has been organized after its being supported by the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE). The staff of the Nika LLC has been developing and manufacturing cosmetic remedies to take care of skin and hair; the raw materials for those remedies are medicinal muds.

III. Molecular mechanisms of persistent infection

Long-lasting persistence of microorganisms in their hosts’ organisms is still an unsolved problem of infection researches. That is partially explained with the fact that persistence organisms have not been researched well. The goal of our research activities is a complex estimation of biochemical criteria, which provide the human immunity, and determining the functional role of microorganism biomolecules in formation of bacteria carrying. When undertaking those researches, we use the following methods:

Immune-enzyme analysis;
Method of radial immunodiffusion in agar gel;
Methods of revealing bactericidal activities in serum and in sperm;
Method of revealing glycerol-ester-hydrolase activities of microorganisms;
Determination of lysozyme and anti-lysozyme activities of microorganisms;
Determination of microorganisms’ abilities to resist the bactericidal activities of serum and sperm;
Estimations of bacteria’s adhesive properties.

If necessary, our own research techniques are developed and patented.

IV. Estimation of environmental factors genotoxicity

The methods of Molecular Biology and Genetics that we use make it possible for us to research at the microstructural and at the nanostructural levels, to determine and to manipulate biological molecules (e.g. proteins and nucleic acids), to research the structure of genes and genomes, as well as to construct various systems, to research the structure of virus particles.

The methods of estimating the environmental factors genotoxicity, which are used during our researches in the Laboratory, are:

Complex estimation of influence exerted upon mitosis processes, which includes analyzing the mitotic activity, the anaphase and the metaphase analysis, researching the types of mitosis pathology, the micronuclear analysis, the analysis of nucleolar activities;
Estimating the changes in temporal parameters of the mitotic cycle;
Estimating the types of vegetative karyotypes (estimation of polyploid and aneuploid effects, when environmental factors exert their influence);
Estimation of generative changes by using the “Meller-5” method;
Estimating the level of aberrations and chromosomal spectrums by means of the human peripheral blood cultivating method.

The researches undertaken in our Laboratory of Ecological Biochemistry have been supported with a number of federal grants – from President of the Russian Federation, from the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE), and from such federal research support programs as Start and UMNIK.

Kondratenko, Elena Igorevna

D.Sc. in Biology, Full Professor – Chief of Laboratory of Ecological Biochemistry

Contacts:

Address: Technopark AGU, Nachalo Village, Astrakhan Region 416456 Russia.

Phone: +7-8512-44-00-95 (ext. 112).