Research topics

Chemistry of nucleosides, nucleotides and nucleic acids for molecular technologies as biotherapeutics, nanomaterials and molecular probes:

• Synthesis, studies of physicochemical and biological properties of modified nucleosides, nucleotides and DNA/RNA-oligonucleotides containing boron clusters and their complexes with metals
• The relationship between structure and physicochemical and biological properties of modified DNA/RNA-oligonucleotides and their components
• Modified nucleic acids as new materials for nanotechnology and other molecular technologies, biotherapeutics and molecular probes
• Nucleoside derivatives with antiviral, antitumor and purinergic receptor modulating activity
• Boron carriers for BNCT of tumors

Synthetic nucleic acids find broad and diverse applications in molecular biology, genetic engineering, medical diagnostics and therapy. Applications of nucleic acids in emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, biosensing or biocomputing illustrate their expanding potential as novel and versatile biomaterial.

The major scope of our research is chemistry of nucleic acids focused on the development of methods for the synthesis of carborane- and metallacarborane-containing nucleosides, nucleotides and DNA-oligomers and physicochemical and biological evaluation of the obtained molecules. The important feature of this novel modification is combining the biological constituent bearing information (nucleic acid) with inorganic module bearing function (boron clusters and their complexes with metals). The unique properties of  boron clusters support many practical applications of boron modified oligomers.

Chemical, physicochemical and biological properties of the synthesized molecules are studied. These include antiviral activity, purynergic receptors’ modulating activity, antisense oligonucleotides with potential antiviral and anticancer activity, boron carriers for boron neutron capture therapy of cancers (BNCT), application of boron cluster modified DNA-oligomers as electrochemically and IR/Raman detectable molecular probes.

Key words: nucleosides, nucleotides, DNA/RNA-oligonucleotides, molecular probes, antisense, antiviral, anticancer agents, purinergic receptors modulators, BNCT, boron clusters, carboranes, metallacarboranes, nanomaterials.