Researchers from the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the Shemyakin- Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry together with international collaborators published two papers in The FEBS Journal confirming the role of the CPH enzyme in the fungal bioluminescence pathway: it breaks down oxyluciferin into caffeic and pyruvic acids, helping sustain light emission by recycling caffeic acid back into the bioluminescent system, while pyruvic acid may be redirected into central metabolism to help generate cellular energy. The findings open up opportunities for developing more efficient autonomous bioluminescent systems for medicine, biotechnology, agriculture, and environmental monitoring.

Scientists from the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences developed autoluminescent reporters for non-invasive imaging of plant defence responses. Using consumer-grade cameras, they visualized the spatiotemporal activity of the phytohormones salicylic acid and jasmonic acid in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana during normal development as well as in response to pest and pathogen attacks. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Researchers from the Department of Genomics and Postgenomic Technologies at the State Research Center Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Regenerative Medicine at Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University have shown that the ag1 gene, an important regulator of regeneration in amphibians that was lost in all amniotes, including reptiles, birds, and mammals, during evolution, can accelerate skin wound healing when introduced into the mouse genome. Activation of this gene in transgenic mice was found to trigger molecular programs associated with regeneration-biased and scar- reduced tissue repair. These findings open new perspectives for fundamental research in tissue regeneration and repair. The results are published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.  

Dear colleagues! On June 8 (Monday) at 3 p.m., an open seminar of the Department of Immunology will be held in seminary room 404 (4th floor, 52nd building), dedicated to the pre-defense of the dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Biological Sciences Anastasia I. Palamarchuk on the topic: "Overexpression of the telomerase catalytic subunit gene as a factor influencing the transcriptional and functional activity of NK cells, as well as their sensitivity to targeted elimination", specialty 1.5.3. Molecular Biology. Everyone is invited to attend. June 8th