Interfaculty Laboratory of Structural Biophysics

The interfaculty research laboratory of structural biophysics was established in 2005.

The field of laboratory research includes:

• study of the effect of anticancer drugs on the cellular metabolism of healthy tissues,

• enzymology,

• medical and clinical biochemistry,

• mechanisms of action of hormones and anticancer drugs.

The main scientific directions operating in the laboratory

• Study of chromatin packing changes in rat liver cells, thymocytes and lungs after exposure to anticancer drugs oliparib and bleomycin.

• Investigation of the combined effects of cisplatin, bleomycin, and tannic acid on chromatin packaging in liver cells, thymocytes, and lungs.

• Determination of cancer cell viability after exposure to bleomycin, cisplatin and tannic acid.

• Regulation of chromatin structure modeling enzyme PARP-1 activity in rat liver, thymus, and lung nuclei after combined exposure to anticancer drugs bleomycin, cisplatin, and tannic acid.

• PARP 1 inhibition study in rat liver and thymocyte nuclei after oliparib injection in animals. Study of melting curves of DNA isolated from cell nuclei.

• Determination of endogenous cytoplasmic NAD+ content in the nucleus of the liver and thymocytes after bleomycin injection and after bleomycin, cisplatin, and TA combined exposure.

• The individual and combined effects of cisplatin and various steroid hormones (estradiol, progesterone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, etc.)

1. on the composition and composition of phospholipids of cell nuclei obtained from different tissues of rats,

2. on the level of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in different tissues, whole blood, and plasma of rats,

3. on the activity of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, GSH peroxidase, etc.) that are a component of the cell's antioxidant system,

4. on the quantitative changes of glutathione (reduced and oxidized) in cells of different rat tissues.

• Identification of DNA structural changes in the presence of MnTOEtPyP4 porphyrin, clarification of possible binding mechanisms, and calculation of binding thermodynamic parameters.

• Complexation features of poly(dI-dC).poly(dI-dC). with the metal-free porphyrin, H2TOEtPyP4 and its metal derivatives CuTOEtPyP4 and CoTOEtPyP4 studied.

Partnerships

The laboratory cooperates with the following institutions:

• Department of General Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine,

• RA NAS Hr. Buniatyan Institute of Biochemistry,

• Research Laboratory of Physics of Macromolecules, Institute of Physics, Yerevan State University,

• Laboratory of Human and Animal Physiology, Research Institute of Biology, Yerevan State University.

Staff

1. Anush Asatryan 

2. Irina Artsruni

3. Karine Matinyan 

4. Zhenya Yavroyan 

5. Ananyan Volodi 

6. Nune Hakobyan 

7. Agapi Hovhannisyan 

8. Emil Gevorgyan 

Top 5 publications (Scopus, Web of Science 2018-2023)

1. Anush L. Asatryan, Karine S. Matinyan, Irina G. Artsruni, Emil S. Gevorgyan, Ara P. Antonyan & Poghos O. Vardevanyan. Transient decondensation of chromatin in liver nuclei of rats treated with tannic acid, Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 2019, 38(12), 3743-3749, 
2. Gayane V. Ananyan, Nelli H. Karapetyan & Yeva B. Dalyan. The structural features of poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC) at complexation with some porphyrins. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics
3. Gayane V.Ananyan, Yeva B.Dalyan, Nelli H.Karapetyan, Vigen G.Barkhudaryan & Ani A.Avetisyan: Interaction of MnTOEtPyP4 porphyrin with DNA, Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 2022, 10313-10318
4. Hakobyan N.R., Yavroyan Zh.V., Hovhannisyan A.G., Gevorgyan E.S. Cisplatin and progesterone separate and combined action on rat brain nuclear phospholipids content. Prostaglandins & Other Lipid Mediators. 2023, 168, 106750, 1-5, 
5. Anush L. Asatryan, Karine S. Matinyan, Lusine G. Aslanyan, Yeva B. Dalyan, Irina G. Artsruni. Bleomycin and Olaparib Induced Modulation of Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase 1 Activity and Chromatin Structure in Thymocyte Nuclei. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2023, 17(3), 502-508