Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

A new research area, Innovative Biomaterials and Methods of Their Research, is being opened at the NSU-NNC Collective Use Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. The work will be carried out within the framework of the strategic project, Center for the Integration of Personalized Biomedicine, Pharmacy, and Synchrotron Binary Technologies, which received support from the Priority 2030 state program.

For the first time in Russia, the method of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) will be used to study the pharmacokinetics of peptides, hemostatic composites and structural analysis of fossil tissues. The long-term result of the project will be the creation of a standardized approach to assessing the transdermal delivery of peptides, accelerating the development of new therapeutic agents and increasing the accuracy of predicting their clinical effectiveness, creating and introducing new synthetic functional materials for medical use, such as hemostatic materials and selective hemosorbents. Previously, this high-tech research method was used mainly for radiocarbon dating of archaeological finds, geological objects and paleontological samples.

Accelerative masses of spectrometry (UMS) – a supers -sensitive method of absolute measurement of isotopic relations, based on the calculation of single atoms. Of greatest interest for medical research are the capabilities of the UMS in the registration of radioglerod-S-14. The accuracy of the method is so high that it allows you to carry out reliable measurements of the concentration of the S-14 isotope with its share of 1E-15 from the total carbon content. The unsurpassed sensitivity of the UMS gives a number of advantages, such as a small amount of test for analysis and the possibility of analyzing a carbon -containing sample located in any aggregate state. Therefore, for UMS-analysis in the simplest performance, about 2-4 mg of dry matter, 10 mg of a sample of biological tissues and less than 50 μl of fluid will be required. Due to the extremely small content of the radiocarod in the biosphere, the isotopic ratio of the S-14/S-12 is 1E-12-the radioactivity of the laid drugs necessary for accurate registration by the UMS method is several times less than the natural level of radiation. This allows you to safely conduct multiple studies, including involving children as subjects, which is very important when developing children’s forms of drugs due to significant differences in metabolism in adults and children. Currently, the world has accumulated a large array of data on the use of UMS in clinical studies of drugs to select personalized assistance to cancer patients, new drugs developed with the use of UMS are received on the market.

There are about 200 UMS installations in the world, and about 30 large UMS centers with two or more installations. In Russia, there is only one such center — the UMS Center of Collective Use of the NSU-NNC, which has two accelerator mass spectrometers — the first domestic high-voltage one, developed by scientists from the G.I. Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 15 years ago, and a low-voltage MICADAS, manufactured in Switzerland. The center conducts research, most of which is aimed at radiocarbon dating of various objects, for customers from all over Russia, as well as from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, North Korea, Transnistria, etc. Most of the customers are scientific organizations, research institutes, and universities.

— Our UMS center is registered in the international database of radiocarbon laboratories as “AMS Golden Valley” and successfully passed GIRI certification in 2022. Over the years of our work, we have conducted more than 10 thousand UMS analyses, with the measurement results published more than 80 scientific articles, including in the Nature publishing group, and annually fulfilled more than 40 contracts for UMS measurements. There is a scientific reserve for introducing a radiocarbon label into organic compounds (styrene) and materials (polymer nano- and microspheres), into the composition of the viral membrane, as well as for studying the distribution of toxic substances and the penetrating ability of aerosol particles in organs, — says Ekaterina Parkhomchuk, Director of the UMS Center of Collective Use at NSU-NNC.

The new direction of research work implies active participation of students and young scientists willing to do scientific work in this field. Students will be involved in sample preparation procedures, as well as in studying hemostatics. Young scientists will work in a single team with experienced researchers and experts in the field of UMS application.

— Within the framework of this direction, we intend to orient our UMS installations towards use in the field of biomedicine. For example, to create labeled compounds for medical purposes for the purpose of further studying their distribution and biological action in a living organism. The sensitivity of the UMS method significantly exceeds the capabilities of other methods for determining isotopic ratios. Such studies are rare and complex, and no one else conducts them in Russia. For example, studying the depth of penetration of a drug through the skin, its effectiveness at various stages of diseases, and routes of elimination from the body. Such work has already been carried out by specialists from our center, and we try to involve students and postgraduates in them, — explained Ekaterina Parkhomchuk.

It is planned that medical centers, pharmaceutical companies and research institutes will be involved in the cooperation.

It is already known that one of the first projects will be the assessment of transdermal delivery of peptides – organic substances formed by amino acid chains. The effectiveness of their impact with this route of delivery to the body has not been fully studied due to the lack of reliable methods for studying this process. UMS research can fill the gap and provide an answer to this question.

Along with projects in the field of pharmacology and innovative medicine, the research staff of the NSU-NNC UMS Collective Use Center will continue to work on radiocarbon dating of archaeological and paleontological materials in the same volume, since the need for these studies among scientists of many specialties – archaeologists, soil scientists, paleontologists and geologists – remains very high.

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