Skulachev ions protect the kidneys
"Ion Skulacheva" protects the kidneys in ischemia, biochemists say
RIA NewsA mitochondrial antioxidant from the class of "Skulachev ions" protects the kidneys from oxidative stress that develops with various lesions of internal organs, Russian biochemists have found out, according to an article in the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta.
The staff of the Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology named after A.N.Belozersky Moscow State University studied the possibility of protecting the kidneys of experimental rats from oxidative stress with the help of antioxidants that "extinguish" oxygen free radicals directly at their origin - in mitochondria ("energy factories" of living cells).
The targeted mitochondrial antioxidant, "constructed" on the basis of the SkQR1 molecule from the class of so-called "Skulachev ions", was found to effectively protect the kidneys of experimental rats from damage during oxidative stress caused by ischemia (lack of oxygen in tissues) and subsequent reperfusion (restoration of oxygen supply with blood).
"It's not just the lack of oxygen in the kidney tissues that is scary, but a sharp rise in its concentration after reperfusion. This causes explosive formation of free oxygen radicals, and then events develop according to a sad scenario: necrosis-organ failure-kidney failure," the lead co-author of the work, Egor Plotnikov, explained to RIA Novosti the importance of this study.
Ischemia in rodents was caused by temporary compression of the renal artery, which led to a stop of blood supply to the kidney. The clamping lasted about half an hour, after which the clamp was removed, and reperfusion occurred. "Thus, kidney lesions are modeled, developing, for example, when a blood clot occurs and "breaks down" or the processes occurring during transplantation of this organ. The blood again entered the kidney, bringing oxygen to the tissue, which during this time "ate out" all the available oxygen," Plotnikov explained.
It turned out that as a result of the action of the antioxidant, the levels of oxygen free radicals normalized, the level of lipid peroxidation (the main components of the mitochondrial membrane) decreased, and kidney function normalized. In addition, there was a significant decrease in mortality among experimental animals.
The next stage of the work will be to study the possibility of protecting human kidneys with SkQR1, Plotnikov said. The development of the corresponding drug is carried out within the framework of the biomedical project "Ions of Skulachev".
Oxidative stress is the cause of the development of many pathological processes in living organisms. At the same time, a large amount of free oxygen radicals, for example, peroxides, is formed in the tissues of the body.
Mitochondria - the "energy factories" of living cells - are key participants in pathologies caused by oxidative stress. They are both sources and "targets" of the action of oxygen radicals.
The mitochondrial antioxidant SkQR1 was synthesized and characterized by the order of Mitotech by specialists of the Mitoengineering Research Institute of Moscow State University, the Belozersky Research Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology of Moscow State University, the Urology Research Institute and other scientific organizations participating in the Skulachev Ions project.
Mitotech LLC is an innovative company established at Lomonosov Moscow State University and working in the field of medical nanotechnology. The company was created to develop and market innovative drugs of a new type based on mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants of the SkQ class ("Skulachev ions").
The project to create these drugs was supported by the state corporation "Rusnano" in February 2010.
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