Hercules' fight with the hydra: how can creating new molecules kill bacteria? Chemists, winners of the RUDN scientific competition, tell

One of the 9 winning projects this year is the development of young chemists from the Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Students explored the molecular design and synthesis of novel azaheterocyclic derivatives with high potential for biological activity. Such molecules are new compounds that may or may not kill the bacteria.

A team from the Chemistry department worked on the project:

• Ksenia Alekseeva, graduate student;
• Kirill Vasiliev, master's degree, second year;
• Milana Fedoseeva, master's degree, first year;
• Nikita Logvinenko, III year;
• Nikita Volchkov, third year.

Nowadays you can often hear that you should not take antibiotics without consulting your doctor. Following this advice can save not only your life, but also the lives of those around you.

“Antibiotics are like a club in the hands of Hercules, who fights Hydra. Chopping off one head leads to the appearance of two new ones. Taking an antibiotic will kill some of the pathogens, but some of them will certainly survive and pass on a defense mechanism to their numerous offspring. This way the strain will gain resistance. What to do? Obviously - come up with a new antibiotic! But when you find out that every day in the world more than 10 million antibiotic Heracles hit different heads of different Hydras, it becomes clear that this is a very difficult task”, - Ksenia Alekseeva, graduate student.

“In the project we are creating new molecules. Literally new. They did not exist on Earth before we mixed the necessary reagents in a flask. This means that microorganisms have not previously encountered them and, therefore, do not have defense mechanisms against them”, - Kirill Vasiliev, Master's degree, 2nd year.

“There are two development paths after obtaining a molecule. On the one hand, it may happen that our molecules will not have a destructive effect on pathogens, that is, they will be unusable. This happens because not all formulas of substances are suitable in their structure, and finding the right one takes time”, - Milana Fedoseeva, master's degree, first year.

“But when we discover that colonies of some strains die when they encounter our molecules, we will understand that we have entered the second path. Then we will conduct an analysis, identifying which molecules do the best job. Subsequently, modifications will need to be made, including the creation of new molecules, in order to ultimately introduce a new antibiotic to the world”, - Nikita Logvinenko, III course.

“We are now awaiting the results of biological testing of already created molecules that contain fused isoindole and β-carboline frameworks. Preliminary data indicate the manifestation of anti-glycation activity - the molecules can block the non-enzymatic interaction of proteins with glucose and the formation of advanced glycation end products, which can cause the development of degenerative diseases”, - Nikita Volchkov, III course.

The scientific leader of the project group is Fedor Zubkov, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry of the Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the RUDN University.

A total of 9 projects won the competition. Teams from the Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Institute of Ecology, the Higher School of Management, the Medical Institute, the Faculty of Philology and the Institute of Foreign Economic Security and Customs will receive scholarships.