Photoswitching off the Antiproliferative Activity of Combretastatin A-4 Analogues.

The photostability and antiproliferative activity of combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) analogues against human epidermoid carcinoma cells A-431 were studied. For the first time, it was shown that UV or sunlight irradiation of furanone analogues of CA-4 results in a photorearrangement giving products with relatively low antiproliferative activity. The observed ability of this series CA-4 to the photodegradation can be used for the design of a new class of drug candidates with high selectivity to cancer cells.

[The use of nucleolar morphological characteristics of birch seedlings for the assessment of environmental pollution].

Micronucleus frequency in buccal mucosa from the oral cavity of children as well as nucleolar structural characteristics (surface area of single nucleoli as well as their number and type) in the root meristem of seed progeny of birch (Betula pendula Roth) were studied in some districts of Voronezh City and Voronezh Region (Novovoronezh Town, Zemlyansk Village). Similar trends of changes in cytogenetic parameters have been revealed for both subjects. Regression analysis allowed us to generate an equation relating the cytogenetic parameters of birch seed progeny (surface area of single nucleoli) and humans (frequency of micronuclei in buccal mucosa of children).

[Mitogenic and mutagenic effects of ionized air on Allium fistulosum L].

In the apical meristem of Allium fistulosum, the relationship between peroxide lipid oxidation, antioxidant activity, proliferative processes, the yield of chromosomal aberrations and duration the exposure to ionized air was studied. Under the influence of air oxygen ions, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities increased, proliferative processes were stimulated, and shifts occurred in the process of lipid peroxidation in cells of A. fistulosum.