Combined Effects Laboratory

Dates back in its origins to as far as 1965 when the Institute of Nuclear Energy teamed up a nuclear research group and in 1974 established on its base the laboratory for the development of nuclear-physical analysis methods and their application in biology and medicine, which was later transformed into laboratory of radioecology headed by Dr. A. Malenichenko.

In 1992, following institutional rearrangements at the Institute of Nuclear Energy, the laboratory was reorganized into laboratory of radiation and toxicological ecology and became part of the Institute of Radioecological Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

In 2003, the Institute of Radioecological Problems was reorganized and the laboratory became affiliated to the Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, which was soon after relocated from Minsk to Gomel.

Head
Elena KADUKOVA

Staff

GONCHAROV Sergei, researcher
SKAKALOVA Natalia, junior researcher
BONADYSEVA Yulia, junior researcher
SHAKHOVSKAYA Olga, junior researcher
MATVEYENKOV Matvei, junior researcher, PhD student

  • Characterizes the effects of low doses of ionizing radiation on body resistance to technogenic contaminants inducing genomic instability, mutagenesis and oncopathology,
  • studies radiation-induced distortions of molecules and cells, and examines the mechanisms of how their reactions are integrated into the body-level and population-level effects,
  • studies radiosensitivity of species, variability and adaptability of natural populations in contaminated environments,
  • develops advanced biotechnologies and plant-based treatment and prophylactics products capable of increasing body resistance under the impact of adverse natural and man-made factors (ionizing radiation, electromagnetic radiation, xenobiotics etc.), and
  • specifies procedures for practical application of biologically-active agents of natural origin.

Results, Achievements & Inventions

  • Our research projects in the exclusion zone of the Polesye State Radiation-Ecological Reserve (PSRER) established that specific radioactive environments affect the way radionuclides accumulate in tissues of animals of different taxonomic groups, their morphologic functions and adaptation mechanisms in general – remote health effects observed in contaminated areas make it possible to assess adaptive capacities of different species to the radiation impact;
  • Developed the criteria for the health state assessment under combined effects of irradiation and atmospheric pollutants in transgenerational research;
  • Experimentally proved the effectiveness of radioprotective and antitumor actions of functional food supplements developed based on aqueous extract of higher cultivated fungi;
  • Found a positive correlation in germ cells of male mice between DFI and 137Cs deposition density in PSRER area, i.e. the number of damaged DNA in sperm cells increases with the increasing contamination density of sampling (catching) sites;
  • Tested the effects of the extracts from Shizophillum commune and Hericium erinaceus mushrooms on mice offspring from PSRER area, and found their consumption enhances antitumor resistance expressed in the less intensive growth of Ehrlich ascite carcinoma and higher survival rates, which can potentially be used in cancer therapies;
  • Studied the effects of different potential antioxidants and photoprotectors and found, by comparing biochemical blood parameters and morphometric skin parameters, that the most effective can be considered the extracts from рollinaria, E. prunoides and H. physodes.

Current projects

  • Citizen Science to Advance Resilience in Emergencies (CARE) (coordinator – Barcelona Institute for Global Health);
  • Formation of Responses in Animal Models to Low Doses of Chronic Exposure (in cooperation with Animal Radioecology Laboratory, Institute of Biology of Komi Scientific Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences);
  • Nano Aqua Citrates of Microelements as Novel Substances Stimulating Biological Activity of Valued Remedial Basidium Fungi (in cooperation with M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine);
  • The role of apoptosis of ovary cells in alteration of reproductive functions in melanogaster generations under continuous exposure to electromagnetic radiation (Young Scientists Research Grant, Belarusian Fundamental Research Foundation).

 

Publications

  1. Sushko S. N., Goncharov S. V., Puzan N. D. Formation of hematological effects in conditions of chronic irradiation and intoxication with heavy metals (in Russian). Microelements in Medicine, 2015, 16 (2). P. 37–42. DOI: 10.19112/2413-6174-2015-16-2-37-41.
  2.  

    S. N. Sushko, N. A. Chueshova, K. N. Shaforost, D. A. Nozdryov, S. V. Goncharov. The influence of radioactive polluting the environment on the state of reproductive system in wild and laboratory animals. – In Book of Abstracts 8th International Symp. on Ecology and Environmental Problems, 4–7 October 2017, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey, 2017. P. 245.

  3. N. I. Timokhina, S. N. Sushko, N. N. Veyalkina, S. V. Goncharov, V. V. Truhonovets. The bioactive properties of aqueous extracts of cultured mushrooms Hericium erinaceus (in Russian). – Problems of Health and Ecology, 2017. – No. 2, Vol. 52. – P. 71–74.
  4. A. Kadukova, S. Sushko, N. Tsimokhina. Tumor microenvironment and possibilities of its correction at mice A/J in conditions of environmental factors of the zone of the Chernobyl disaster. In Conf. Proc. 1st Joint EACR-MRS Conf. Seed and Soil in vivo Models of Metastasis, 27–29 Nov 2017, Berlin, Germany, Р. 66.
  5. S. V. Goncharov, A. Ye. Kozlov, М. V. Маtveyenkov, I. A. Cheshik. Estimating the effectiveness of protection against UV radiation with extracts of lichen Hypogymnia physodes in biological systems in vivo // DOKLADY of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019, vol. 63 (no. 6). P. 747–754. https://doi.org/10.29235/1561-8323-2019-63-6-747-754
  6. V. V. Truhonovets E. M. Kadukova, N. N. Veyalkina [et al.]. Cultural introduction of medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (W. Curt.: Fr.) P. Karst and its potential use under radioactive contamination (in Russian). J. of Bel. State University. ECOLOGY, 2019, No. 4. P. 62–70.
  7. Goncharov S.V., Kozlov А.Ye., Matveyenkov M.V., Khramchenkova O.M. Assessment of photoprotective potential of lichen extracts on exposure to UV in vivo (in Russian). Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2019, Issue 3. P. 150–155.
  8. Kadukova A., Sushko S. Effect of sulphur dioxide and gamma irradiation on the induction of adenomas and morphofunctional activity of alveolar macrophages of A/f mice. In Book of Abstr. 15th European Ecological Federation Congress on Embedding Ecology in the Sustainable Development Goals, 29 Jul – 2 Aug 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019. P. 181.
  9. S. Goncharov, M. Matveyenkau, A. Kazlou, O. Khramchenkova. Photoprotective properties of lichen extracts (Hypogymniaphysodes) in vivo and on cell cultures. In Abstracts of the 15th Int. Сonfю on Healthcare ICHC2019, 27–29 May 2019, Barcelona, Spain. EuroSciCon, London. P. 40.

Contact

E-mail: combilab@irb.basnet.by