Using bee royal jelly to protect living organisms from environmental stressors

The scientific project titled "Royal Jelly as a Natural Remedy for Stress Resistance: Metabolic Changes and Identification of Stress Proteins in Yeast" authored by Seda Marutyan, Associate Professor at the Chair of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Biotechnology of YSU Faculty of Biology, has been approved for funding as part of the "Scientific Effectiveness Promotion Grant Program-2025" announced by the Higher Education and Science Committee of Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports. 

- Ms. Marutyan, there are numerous publications indicating that royal jelly is one of the most effective natural means for strengthening the organism. What new findings will your study contribute to this field?

- The main goal of our project is to explore the protective role of royal jelly against adverse environmental factors in living organisms. Royal jelly is well-known for its anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, immunostimulatory, anticancer, and various other therapeutic properties, and has been used in folk medicine for centuries. Several pharmaceutical products have been developed based on it; however, the molecular mechanisms through which royal jelly participates in protecting living organisms from environmental stressors are still not fully discovered. We aim to deepen our studies on the metabolic changes in yeast cells subjected to UV radiation, millimeter waves, and heat shock. Yeast cells are considered model organisms for high-level eukaryotes, including humans, in these experiments.

- What issues will your study address?

- Our research will provide insights into the molecular basis of the high radioresistance and thermotolerance of yeast, and the cellular mechanisms that enable yeast to withstand unfavorable environmental conditions. Based on these mechanisms, we plan to develop protective strategies for living organisms against various environmental stressors. Currently, we are expanding our research by incorporating two new yeast strains, which are also of interest from a biotechnological perspective. We will continue to study the metabolic changes, particularly energy metabolism, in all the yeasts, and we will carry on with the identification and characterization of newly synthesized proteins under stress conditions. The project also includes an international collaboration with Stéphane Guyon, a leading researcher from the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France. Planned reciprocal visits will allow our young researchers to travel to France, where they will participate in relevant studies and learn new methods that will be applied in our future investigations. 

- When did you begin your research on this topic, and what substantiated data do you have that is subject to publication, or have you already published any?

- The research began several years ago, but we started seriously focusing on this topic in 2021, when we received a thematic funding grant from the Higher Education and Science Committee of MoESCS RA. The current project is essentially a continuation of the previous one. We have successfully demonstrated that royal jelly stimulates the resistance of yeasts to factors such as X-rays, UV radiation, millimeter waves, and to some extent, nitrogen starvation. We have shown that royal jelly promotes the growth and reproduction of yeasts, and in response to radiation exposure, it contributes to the reduction of oxidative stress occurring in cells. Under the influence of royal jelly, energy production increases, especially during post-radiation growth, meaning in regenerating cells. At the same time, new proteins, such as stress or heat shock proteins, begin to be synthesized in the irradiated and regenerating yeasts. We have already published 10 scientific articles in international journals regarding the impact of stress factors on yeasts, and within the framework of the previous project, we published 2 scientific articles regarding the study of royal jelly in Q1 and Q2 journals. We have participated in international conferences, presenting 10 scientific reports in oral or poster formats. Currently, we are summarizing the data obtained in the past year, based on which we plan to submit 3 more scientific articles for publication.

- Who are the members of your scientific team?

- The members of our scientific team are primarily young researchers. I am the team leader, and the group includes PhD, Associate Professor Hasmik Karapetyan, from the Chair of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Biotechnology, Junior Researcher Syuzanna Marutyan from the Basic and Pathological Biochemistry Laboratory, Senior Laboratory Assistant Anna Muradyan, who graduated last year from our chair, and second-year master's student Mary Hayrapetyan from the "General and Medical Biochemistry" master's program.