The theory of the evolutionary role of hereditary tumors, or carcino-evo-devo theory, may be considered as the next step after A.N. Severtsov’s theory of phylembryogenesis, the theory of evo-devo, and Susumu Ohno’s theory of evolution by gene duplication. The carcino-evo-devo theory pretends to be a unifying biological theory, because it unifies within an integrated consideration three main types of biological development—individual, evolutionary, and neoplastic development. The carcino-evo-devo theory explains a series of unexplained biological phenomena. In the first place, it explains the mechanisms of progressive evolution and biological complexity increase using the concept of relatively unstable transitory forms and autonomous uncontrolled processes. The theory of the evolutionary role of hereditary tumors has formulated several nontrivial predictions in various fields of biology, which have been confirmed in the lab of the author and in other laboratories. The consequences of the carcino-evo-devo theory have implications in medicine and biotechnology. The first part of this article describes the basic principles from which the main hypothesis followed, the progressive developments of the concept, and the first experimental data in support of nontrivial predictions obtained in the laboratory of the author in the period before 2014, when our monograph Evolution by Tumor Neofunctionalization (Kozlov, 2014) was published.
Everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, and modern preventive, preventive, and rehabilitative manipulations promote health and well-being. Due to a number of fundamental projects on the study of human health at various levels (genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic), and molecular mechanisms of the development of pathological conditions, there has been a great leap in the field of applied sectors of industrial biotechnology, including segments of the pharmaceutical and food industries, significantly improved health-saving resources, and improved quality of life of the population. This article will review the advanced achievements of fundamental and applied research, as well as promising areas of the bioindustry.
Since the dawn of humanity, human beings have inherently sought a state of security, trying to make their existence as comfortable as possible. Accordingly, among the many factors affecting human health, comfort and well-being, the quality of the micro-environment and ecology, as well as the health care system and health-preserving resources, are important. In this regard, environmental security, with its systemic nature, brings a significant contribution to the PPM model by optimizing the state of balance in the interrelationship of natural, anthropogenic, physiological, and social processes. Accordingly, individualized nutrition and pharmacointervention for preventive and prophylactic purposes, as important tools for health preservation, represent an integrative approach aimed at understanding the interaction between nutrition and the environment within the formed or formed lifestyle. This review will consider the main components of human health protection, as well as their impact on the preservation of ecobiocenosis stability.
The morphogenetic properties of a collagen gel prepared by acetic acid extraction from the tendon sheaths (peritenons) of the paravertebral tendons of Wistar rats were studied. The gel was used as a substrate during in vitro cultivation together with mesenchymal stromal cells for 14 days in growth and osteogenic incubation media. It has been established that the collagen framework of the peritenon substrate is strengthened by increasing the connectivity of fibrillar nodes and is structured with the formation of lamellar and tangle formations. Sesamoid globules, penetrating into the substrate from the initial peritenon gel, remain inert during cultivation in the growth medium, but exhibit an increased ability to structure calcium phosphates in the osteogenic medium. The formation of cell-mediated structures occurs by directions of fibro, tendo-, ligament-, and osteogenic differentiation. The fibrogenic direction provides a structuring framework; the tenogenic direction provides the formation of embryonic tendons according to the mechanism of lateral assembly of collagen subfibrils on cell surfaces and their autonomization in the form of tendon filament primordia; the ligamentogenic direction provides structuring of collagen ribbons associated with tangles and elastic fibers; and the osteogenic direction provides the formation of lamellar, trabecular and nodular osteoid structures through intramembranous ossification, accompanied by activation of alkaline phosphatase and mineralization. The formation of enthesis predictors is the organization of commissures between mechanically different-phase components of osteoid structures and frame. A classification of taxonomic forms has been developed and a hypothesis has been proposed about the role of evolutionary tools in the structuring of the collagen framework in tissue cultures in vitro. A classification of taxonomic forms has been developed and a hypothesis has been proposed about the role of evolutionary tools in the structuring of the collagen framework in tissue cultures in vitro.
This article discusses the issues of conservation, distribution, and acclimatization of sika deer on the territory of the Russian Federation, the Central Federal District and of the National Park State Complex Zavidovo. A detailed analysis of the condition of the first range of sika deer in the Primorsky krai is given, as well as the history of settlement and dynamics of its population in the Russian Federation. For the regions of the Central Federal District, the results of the cadastral assessment of sika deer resources were calculated, including the average long-term number, the average long-term population density (animals) per 1000 hectares of characteristic lands, and the average long-term cost of resources (million rubles). As an effective model for the acclimatization of sika deer, the experience of its economic use was carried out in the Zavidovo National Park State Complex (Tver region).
Under the influence of hypoxia in plants, the transcription of genes responsible for adaptation to stress caused by low oxygen levels changes. Changes in metabolic pathways under stress conditions may be regulated by microRNAs. It was found that the content of microRNA775A increases in corn leaves under the influence of hypoxia. The use of the fluorescent probe miR775A-ROX made it possible to establish an increase in the number of RNA-inducing silencing complexes (RISC), formed on the basis of microRNA775A, in maize leaves during the development of hypoxic stress. The results we obtained indicate that microRNA775A is involved in the processes of adaptation of the body to hypoxic conditions by regulating the expression of target genes at the post-transcriptional level using the RNA interference mechanism.
Mitochondria are an important source of reactive oxygen species in skeletal muscle. Mitochondrial dysfunction accompanies the development of age-related human diseases. Increased production of reactive oxygen species contributes to muscle atrophy caused, for example, by physical inactivity. Many regulatory pathways involved in mitochondrial biogenesis are targets of anti-aging therapies. Active lifestyle and exercise prevent age-related damage to skeletal muscle mitochondria. Another way to correct the action of reactive oxygen species is the use of antioxidants directly targeted to the mitochondria. Treatment with mitochondria-targeted antioxidants attenuates mitochondrial degeneration, improves age-related skeletal muscle function, and protects muscles from atrophy. This review presents data on the use of mitochondrial-directed antioxidants and exercise to maintain the structural and functional state of mitochondria, and protect muscles from sarcopenia.
Monochorionic diamniotic twin gestations have a higher risk of perinatal complications than both dichorionic twins and singleton pregnancies. One of the complications of multiple pregnancies is selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR), the incidence of which varies from 10 to 25%. sFGR is a condition of twin pregnancy in which the development of one fetus is restricted, despite normal growth of the other fetus; one of the fetuses is supplied with insufficient nutrient and oxygen content through the placenta to grow at a normal rate. The pathogenesis of sFGR has a multifactorial nature, including disorders of trophoblast invasion, vasculo- and angiogenesis, gestational formation of the placenta with discordant separation of intertwin territories and unbalanced blood flow through interfetal anastomoses oxidative stress, growth factor imbalance, and changes in the metabolomic profile of cord blood and placental tissue. The prenatal diagnosis of sFGR is sometimes problematic and it is not possible to find all the cases. A more detailed study of the various predictors of the occurrence of sFGR will allow the discovery of new markers that will help in early diagnosis, determining the optimal management for pregnancy and predicting perinatal outcome.
This review presents modern domestic and foreign literature data on the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 on red blood cells in COVID-19 and on the effect of the resulting erythrocyte degradation products on the body. The mechanisms of detoxification of these products and the possibility of considering them as biomarkers of this severe disease, as well as therapeutic targets for combating it, are considered in detail.
An audit of the marine and freshwater ichthyofauna of the Arctic has been carried out. According to new data, the ichthyofauna of the Arctic is represented by 4 classes, 33 orders, 103 families, 251 genera and 479 species of cyclostomes and fish (or about 1% of the world fauna), of which 214 species or 45% of the number of species in the Arctic are true Arctic species. Arctic fish are characterized by polymorphism and euryphagy, which are associated with the variable and low food supply of northern water bodies. The ichthyofauna of the Arctic is well represented by taxa with a wide adaptive radiation (genera Coregonus, Salvelinus, Lycodes, etc.) and species with a complex intraspecific structure such as superspecies or species-complex. Another characteristic feature of the Arctic is low endemism of ichthyofauna at the level of families (5%), genera (2%) and species (10%). Possible routes of distribution of whitefish and pike in the water bodies of the North have been discussed.
Current research indicates the importance of a personalized approach to health care, including quality preclinical laboratory diagnostics, preventive and prophylactic nutrition and the construction of individualized nutritional protocols, and well-being of the microenvironment as a whole. This article analyzes existing methods and technologies in the fields of personalized nutritional, medicine, precision fudomics and bioinformatics and their contribution to healthcare, reviewing key aspects of these fields and suggesting directions for further research and implementation.
The paper analyzes the evolution of the thermoenergetic statuses of vertebrates and the associated evolutionary development of their heart. The analysis shows that in most modern lepidosaurs and turtles, the heart is not completely, conditionally five-chambered: it has two atria and one ventricle, in which two incomplete septas divide it into three functional chambers. In some of them, these two septas were modified in evolution so that they turned into one with vertical and horizontal elements, as a result of which the heart became functionally four-chambered, with improved separation of arterial and venous blood flows. Crocodiles have a fully morphologically four-chambered heart. But the hearts of all reptiles, both recent and extinct, perform two opposite functions in parallel – the separation of arterial and venous blood flows and at the same time their regulated mixing. To do this, there are special morphological and physiological mechanisms in their hearts. Such a strange functional duality in the work of the reptilian heart aims to regulate the metabolism level by controlling the amount of carbon dioxide entering the blood flow: increasing the amount of CO2 in the blood flow reduces the metabolic rate, reducing its amount increase metabolism. Mixed blood in reptiles’ blood flow is not an immature, primitive state, but a physiological necessity. Moreover, this method of regulating of metabolic rate is most adequate to the initial, ancestral thermoenergetic state in reptiles, because basal terrestrial tetrapods and most ancient reptiles were meso- and even tachymetabolic, i.e. almost or completely warm-blooded, endothermic animals. It was just these endothermic animals that needed such type of metabolism regulation. As a result, all recent reptiles have a complex morphophysiological organization of the heart, which was functionally more suitable for their almost warm-blooded ancestors. Recent reptiles use part of their ancestral properties as an adaptation to new environmental conditions, new environmental requirements, and their new morphophysiological state. This unique organization of the heart is characteristic of all modern and extinct reptiles, and, importantly, it is characteristic exclusively for reptiles due to their original endothermic state.
When considering the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and post-Covid syndrome, disorders associated with the immune system come to the fore. Complexes of immune dysregulation, dissonant reactions of the patient’s innate and adaptive immune systems, should be considered the main causes of the complex pattern of lesions. These processes include cellular inflammation, disorder of hemovascular homeostasis, and organ damages. Consistent analysis of these processes serves as the basis for choosing therapeutic strategy schemes, taking into account clinical indicators and personal characteristics of patients.
We calculated the found and expected frequencies of metacentrics in polymorphic populations of the Dnieper basin common rodent, resulting from hybridization of local populations with acrocentric karyotype and four chromosomal races (Neroosa, Kiev, Białowieża, and Western Dvina) with 3–5 diagnostic metacentrics in each. We have previously shown an increased frequency of acrocentric karyotype compared to that expected according to Hardy-Weinberg. The low frequency (less than 0.5) of most metacentrics of the four chromosomal races and the disappearance of some of them from the populations can be explained by the increased fitness of the acrocentric karyotype and the absence of meiotic drive. On the contrary, the preservation of high frequency (more than 0.5) of such metacentrics as gm, hk (races of Western Dvina), hi (races of Kiev), hn, ik (races of Białowieża), and, especially, the fixation of metacentric hi (races of Neroosa) in polymorphic populations can be explained by meiotic drive. The fixation of Rb compounds in the range of the common rodent may be a consequence not only of gene drift, but also of meiotic drive. Most likely, meiotic drive is able to maintain the frequency of Rb compounds with the largest acrocentrics g, h, and i, which contributed to the widespread distribution of such compounds throughout the range of the common rodent.
Black cumin and its component thymoquinone (TQ) are known as drugs with a wide range of pharmacological activities: immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, antineoplastic properties. These drugs also have neuroprotective properties in neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's), ischaemia, epilepsy, encephalomyelitis, traumatic brain injury. The main mechanisms of action are antioxidant activity increased expression of neuroprotective genes and proteins with decreased activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the NF-кB pathway, which plays a key role in neuroinflammation. A separate section is devoted to the effects of black cumin and TQ on the course of depression, a common and socially significant illness. Reduced signs of depression and increased levels of a neuroprotective factor belonging to the neutrophin family (BDNF), a characteristic marker of depression, were described in 54 depressed patients. The review discusses the prospects for prevention and therapy with these drugs in central nervous system pathology.
The article presents the results of research on the number and distribution of the Bohemian waxwing in the territory of Northern Eurasia within the borders of the Soviet Union in 1990. The work uses materials collected in the period from 1880 to 2022 (intermittently and mainly since 1960) in the first half of summer (during nesting), in winter, and partially throughout the year. The Bohemian waxwing abundance was estimated on the basis of the results of bird counts on routes with a length of about 300 000 km.
The regularities that determine the preservation and/or change of statistically significant differences during the transition from comparing the average values of plastic signs of juvenile fish to comparing the average values of their indices have been studied. An algorithm for evaluating the factors determining the variability of plastic features and their indices in allometry is proposed. Three cases of variability were identified and parametrized: (a) statistically significant differences are absent between the values of plastic features and their indices, (b) significant differences disappear when switching from comparing features to comparing their indices, and (c) significant differences in both cases remain. Case (b) is associated with different initial length of juveniles and different hatching time; case (c) is determined by different growth rates in the compared groups. The approach was tested on the selection of fingerlings of the Regsa fluviatilus L. perch from two reservoirs of the Staritsky district of the Tver region.
An important component of animal life is behavior. The article examines two forms of behavior: cognitive, genetically fixed, and intellectual, acquired as an adaptation to the environment. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the interpretation of these forms using the example of nest-building, territorial and foraging behavior of families in the wolf population group. The conservatism of the cognitive and the plasticity of the intellectual are shown, which together ensure high vitality and stability of wolf populations in the biogeocenosis. As a result of a comparative analysis, it was found that with increasing contacts between a wolf and a moose (Central Forest Biosphere Reserve), and a wolf and a deer (Yellowstone National Park and southwestern Montana), changes in behavior occurred in the prey. In moose, this manifested itself in increased alertness, which made it difficult for the wolf to approach the prey at a distance for a successful attack, and deer left feeding areas, but with an increased risk of attack by a predator, and preferred safer habitats with better visibility to detect wolves. These are the consequences of turning on the natural caution reflex. Increased alertness or vigilance was a barrier against the predator eating the prey. But the wolf cannot change the genetically fixed process of killing the victim by changing the hunting strategy: moving from a short-term pursuit in case of an unsuccessful attack to a long one.
The program provisions on the geosystem monitoring of forests in connection with modern climate changes, put forward earlier by the author, are being developed. The search strategy is presented in the form of an experimental geo-ecological analysis (using the example of the forest ecosystems of the Volga River basin), with the implementation of the complete monitoring triad state—forecast—management, according to the Israel–Gerasimov’s concept. The theoretical and scientific-methodical foundations of geosystem monitoring are considered, the methods of basic and predictive empirical-statistical modeling of the functional and structural characteristics of forest communities developed by the author are presented. An integrated landscape-ecological approach to monitoring is presented by the analysis and forecast of climate-genic changes in three groups of invariant indicators of the structural and functional organization of forest biogeosystems: 1) numerical parameters characterizing the tightness of inter-component links (as an indicator of the territorial integrity of the geo(eco-)system); 2) primary bio-productivity as the main indicator of the biological cycle; 3) index of labile (phytocoenotic) stability of geo(eco-)systems as integral indicators of their ecological reserve. A working algorithm for geosystem monitoring of forests is described, which characterizes a successive change in the stages of observation, forecasting and regulation, with the identification of mitigation and adaptation effects on the carbon balances of forest ecosystems.
The genetic potential of ungulates of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is rich and diverse, but requires modern research. The use of genetic systems makes it possible to study the genome of animals, determine the state of the genetic diversity of the species, suggest reasonable ways to maintain the level of heterozygosity in domesticated animals, purposefully obtain individuals that are necessary for humans. The analysis of the above-described gene pools of their structure is interesting both for modern breeding and environmental genetics, and may be in demand in the future when planning the development of animal husbandry in the Arctic zone for decades to come. The unique adaptive capabilities of animals to the harsh conditions of the Far North open up wide opportunities for their rational use. Reindeer, musk ox and snow sheep are the most important components of high-latitude ecosystems, in which other ungulate species can practically not live, so they are of great scientific and practical value in preserving agro-diversity in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.
