Vol 93, No 9 (2023)
ТЕМАТИЧЕСКИЙ ВЫПУСК ПО БИОЛОГИИ
Introductory article
Abstract
The articles in the thematic issue of the journal Vestnik Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk on biological sciences are the result of the development of research conducted by scientific schools for which Russian biological science is famous. These articles are presented by leading scientists from the RAS Division of Biological Sciences and cover a wide range of problems.
OPTOGENETICS: FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS
Abstract
The paper is devoted to optogenetics as a method that allows the cells of an organism to acquire light sensitivity. The history of the origin and development of optogenetics is briefly reviewed. The role of optogenetics in studying both the fundamental mechanisms of brain functions and in understanding the mechanisms of a number of neurological and psychiatric diseases, including those associated with memory loss, is discussed.
The real field of clinical application of optogenetics methods to date, namely in ophthalmology, is discussed in detail. Clinical trials have shown the principal possibility of optogenetic prosthetics of “blind” retina and partial restoration of visual functions. Data on one of the four ongoing clinical trials, its success and limitations are presented. The conditions and prospects for further development of optogenetic prosthetic technologies for blind retina in the last stages of the neurodegenerative process are discussed in detail. The question of the type of nerve cells in the degenerating retina most promising for optogenetic prosthetics is discussed. The authors believe that genes of visual, G-protein-binding rhodopsins (most likely cones), which trigger the enzymatic cascade of light signal amplification, are the most promising for optogenetic prosthetics. The use of genes of genetically modified channel rhodopsins as “tools” for optogenetic prosthetics of degenerative retina is undoubtedly possible and, as clinical trials show, quite realistic.
BACTERIAL PALEONTOLOGY TODAY AND TOMORROW
Abstract
The history of bacterial paleontology is outlined. The author describes how the refinement of methods has lead to confirmation or rejection of proposed hypotheses. The role of ancient bacteria in the genesis of sedimentary rocks and the importance of bacterial paleontology for understanding the origin and evolution of weathering rinds and paleosols are emphasized. Incorporating this discipline into university curricula is important to attract young researchers to this field of study.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS OF ALIEN SPECIES – A GLOBAL CHALLENGE IN THE LAST DECADES
Abstract
Biological invasions of alien species – the occupation by living organisms of territories and water areas outside their historical range – have now acquired a gigantic scale, affecting all countries and continents. The recent trends in the development of the invasive process indicate its significant intensification. The proposed review provides information on the scale of biological invasions on Earth, history, current state and main directions of scientific research in this area. In particular, the factors that determine the possibility of invasion of an alien species are considered; stages of the invasive process; ecological, genetic and evolutionary consequences of invasions for natural ecosystems; the impact of invasive species on human safety and health and the social and economic sectors; approaches to forecasting and control of the invasive process.
GENE TAG7 AND ITS TRANSCRIPT TAG7 PROTEIN: PERSPECTIVES OF MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
Abstract
Tag7 protein is a multifunctional protein with antitumor and anti-inflammatory effects. The interaction of Tag7 with the TREM-1 receptor on monocytes leads to the appearance of lymphocytes that kill tumor cells. The Tag7-Hsp70 complex binds to the TNFR1 receptor, causing cell death in a number of tumors through apoptosis and necroptosis. The Tag7-Mts1 complex interacts with the CCR5 receptor and attracts cytotoxic lymphocytes to the tumor. The interaction of Tag7 itself with TNFR1 and TREM-1 receptors prevents the binding of other ligands to this receptor, which gives an anti-inflammatory effect. Peptides imitating different Tag7 activities have been identified in Tag7. The results obtained allow us to count on possible applications of the Tag7 protein in the treatment of oncological and autoimmune diseases.
BIODIVERSITY AND BIORESOURCES OF DEEP-SEA ECOSYSTEMS OF THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC
Abstract
Modern problems of the investigation of marine biodiversity and bio-resources and their inventory in the deep-sea of the World Ocean are considered. The discussion of these problems is also based on the data of a series of deep-water marine expeditions of the National Scientific Center of Marine Biology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS) in the deepest areas of the Far Eastern Seas and adjacent waters of the North-West Pacific. New results of a series of the deep-sea expeditions within the special RAS Project “Fundamental problems of investigation and conservation of the deep-sea ecosystems in the potentially ore-reach areas in the North-West Pacific” are briefly introduced and discussed (project of RAS № 3.1902.21.0012). Several “unique” deep-sea ecosystems found in the ore bearing sites and the active fishing areas in the North-West Pacific are described. Some safety opportunities for these “unique” ecosystems and possible limitations in the use of dangerous mining and fishing techniques disturbing deep-sea landscapes are considered, including various conservation statuses.
PRIONS AND AMYLOIDS AS SPATIAL TEMPLATES OF THE PROTEOME
Abstract
Until recently, studies of amyloids were aimed exclusively at revealing their role in the occurrence of dangerous diseases in humans and animals. However, they are widely distributed in nature and are involved in the regulation of essential vital processes in representatives of all three domains of the living world: archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes. The question of the biological significance of the prions – a special class of amyloids, is still under discussion. The discovery of new functional amyloids became possible due to the development of the bioinformatic and proteomic methods for identification of amyloid-forming proteins. The review describes the way from the study of pathological amyloid structures to the investigation of adaptive amyloids in bacteria, plants, and animals. The importance of the amyloid structure, based on the principle of conformation template copying, as one of the most important forms of supramolecular organization of proteins is shown.
ANTITUMOR DRUG BASED ON THE GENE-MODIFIED VACCINIA VIRUS VV-GMCSF-Lact
Abstract
Virotherapy, or therapy with oncolytic viruses, is one of the most rapidly developing approaches to the treatment of a wide range of solid tumors. The article is devoted to the development and study of the properties of the first domestic drug based on recombinant vaccinia virus. The recombinant virus VV-GMCSF-Lact was engineered from Lister strain (L-IVP) vaccinia virus. The cytotoxic activity and antitumor efficacy of the virus against human tumor cells of various tissue origins were shown on cell cultures and tumor models. The drug has successfully passed preclinical studies as a drug against human breast cancer, including a triple negative phenotype. The drug was proven to be safe, well tolerated and pharmacologically effective. It is currently in Phase I clinical trials to study safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics in patients with relapsed and/or refractory metastatic breast cancer. VV-GMCSF-Lact is the first Russian antitumor oncolytic virus which received the permission from the Russian Ministry of Health to conduct clinical trials.
Formation of pentameria and axial symmetry in the evolution of echinoderms
Abstract
The formation of pentaradial symmetry in the evolution of echinoderms was based on the possibility of the middle–left coelom to terminally forward growth along the anteroposterior axis and the appearance of a second growth vector along the left–right axis during the replication of the formed ambulacra. Both growth vectors were realized into the pentamerism of modern echinoderms due to the development of coelom asymmetry and subsequent torsion associated with the attachment of the larva to the ground by the anterior end of the body. In this process, the molecular genetic mechanisms of anteroposterior growth and left–right regulation, common to bilateria, and associated with the genes of the Wnt, BMP, Nodal signaling cascades, and Hox system genes, were probably used together. In the process of replication of channels extending from the ambulacral ring, the emerging ambulacral system was the organizer of the symmetry of the skeleton and the nervous and muscular systems. Replication in many fossil echinoderms ended on the three channels extending directly from the ambulacral ring. In crinoids, sea urchins, sea stars, brittle stars, and holothurians, the second stage of the formation of a more perfect five-ray symmetry of the ambulacral ring with five radial canals extending from it appeared, associated with a shift in ontogenesis of the branch point to the early stages of hydrocoel development.
CLOSED ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: FROM THE BIOSPHERE TO LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND BACK
Abstract
The paper provides a brief overview of the available facts and ideas about the nature of climate change. The problems of ecological research, which are becoming more acute in relation to biosphere research, are considered: this is the problem of data deficit and the problem of the uniqueness of ecosystems. The key difference between the biosphere and natural ecosystems is highlighted, which ensures the long-term, in the ultimate perspective infinite, existence of the biosphere – the existence of a balance of biogen cycles or the closure of the flows of substances. The advantages of laboratory closed ecological systems (CES) as tools for experimental and theoretical study of the biosphere are considered. The contribution of the most well-known CES (BIOS-3, Folsom microcosms, Biosphere-2, micro-CES) to the understanding of biospheric processes is discussed. The problems and paradoxes identified in the mathematical modeling of CESs (Vernadsky-Darwin paradox, limitations of models of rigid metabolism), which are closely related to the well-known ecological paradoxes of May and Hutchinson, are discussed. A flexible metabolism approach is proposed to reduce the severity of these paradoxes. The measures proposed within the framework of so-called “green initiative” are discussed from the position of “biosphere as a CES”. Among these measures are reducing the carbon footprint of pets, migration to electric vehicles and renewable energy sourcesб and carbon sequestration by trees. The seriousness of biosphere-climatic changes problem is emphasized, which cannot be resolved without accounting the closure of substance flows in the biosphere.
PLURIPOTENCY AND PERSPECTIVES OF CELL TECHNOLOGIES
Abstract
Biology of pluripotency is a modern field of biological science, and at the same time a tool for modeling human morphogenesis in vitro. Pluripotency is the property of cells to self-renew and differentiate into all types of cells of an adult organism, which appears in early embryogenesis in mammals. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have limitless potential in regenerative and translational medicine, which open up perspectives for solving multiple diseases, including hereditary ones. This review describes the characteristics and uniqueness of PSCs, modeling of early human morphogenesis in vitro in blastocyst-like structures and gastruloids, modeling of organogenesis in organoids. Next, we considered the use of PSCs in regenerative medicine with their risks of capability to oncogenicity and immunogenicity in implication of a cell replacement therapy. However, therapeutic approaches using PSCs are still in their infancy and need to be deeply scrutinized.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Abstract
Limited reserves of fossil fuels and the negative impact of their combustion products on the environment are two pressing problems of our time. The development of alternative energy sources, among which solar energy is the most accessible, is considered as a possible solution. Acquisition of skills of its effective and environmentally friendly use by creating artificial photosynthetic systems imitating the processes of natural photosynthesis, as well as the use of artificial photosynthesis for the production of biofuels can contribute to a way out of the current situation.