Vol 50, No 6 (2016)

This survey paper contains a brief analysis of publications summarizing the results of cell biological, molecular genetics, and population genetic studies devoted to the assessment of the damages inflicted on biological systems by acute radiation and chronic radioactive contamination as a result of the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl NPP.

The review presents data on the basic molecular genetic mechanisms of formation of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The participation of ionizing radiation in the cancer pathogenesis was analyzed. The role of tumor microenvironment, inflammation, and nuclear transcription factor NF-κB in the initiation and development of papillary thyroid carcinoma was shown.

Over the recent decade, the method of radiofrequency ablation has been increasingly used for treatment of thyroid nodules. However, there is clear need for additional morphological experimental works on evaluating the effectiveness of application of different devices. This work presents results of investigation of an original device operating on the principle of bipolar radiofrequency ablation, and its high effectiveness in eliminating thyroid nodules with different consistencies and malignancy potentials has been proven, which offers broad prospects for introducing the patented radiofrequency-ablation applicator into practice, alongside other methods of minimally invasive surgery.

The paper discusses different methodological approaches to the study of transgenerational alterations of metabolic pathways in soybean and flax seeds in the process of adaptation to chronic irradiation in the Chernobyl alienation zone. A combination of general biological methods and novel approaches, such as genomics, proteomics, cytogenetics, and mutagenesis, allows researchers to analyze an organism’s systemic response and identify the latent chronic irradiation effects in plants from the Chernobyl zone. The proteomic approaches are especially efficient, since they range from the identification of changes in abundance and folding of individual proteins to the characterization of posttranslational modifications, trends of qualitative changes during seed maturation, or protein-protein interactions during plant growth and development under permanent impacts of stress factors. The application of proteomics opens new horizons in the understanding of the hidden mechanisms behind the impact of chronic low-dose radiation on living cells and makes it possible to visualize metabolic network alterations regardless of their transcriptional, translational, or epigenetic nature.