Mosin O. about water

1. Actuality of the work proposed.

1.1. Deuterium (²H), the hydrogen isotope with mass 2, was discovered by Urey. In the years immediately following this discovery, there developed a keen interest in a biological enrichment of a cell with ²H, which resulted in a miscellany of rather confusing data (Katz J., Crespy H. L. 1972). The main conclusion that can be derived from the most competent and comprehensive of the early studies is that high concentrations of ²H₂O are incompatible with life and reproduction. Nevertheless, a many cells could be quite well adapted to ²H₂O, so that a discussion about the role of macromolecules in biolodical adaptation to ²H₂O is still actual through more than four decades of years after the first description of the biological consequences of hydrogen replacement by deuterium.

First, in frames of the biological research with deuterium the studies of incorporation of deuterium into the macromolecules are necessary. A biosynthetic introduction of deuterium in conjunction with mass spectrometry EIMS [1], FAB [2], and NMR [3] technigue has been used to study biological convertion of low molecular weight substrates ([U-²H]MetOH and ²H₂O) to the amino acids, proteins and nucleotides by various strains of microbial and algae origin (green microalgae; Chlorella sp. and Dunaliella salina Teod., blue green algae Spirulina sp., halophilic bacterium Halobacterium halobium [4], methylotrophic bacteria; Methylobacillus flagellatum and Brevibacterium methylicum [5],  bacills; Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus amiloliqufanciens [6] (Mosin O. V., Karnaukhova E. N., et all., 1993;  Mosin O. V., Skladnev D. A., et all., 1996a). The influence of ²H₂O and other [U -²H]labeled substrates (e.g. [U-²H]MeOH) on several growth characteristics of the microorganisms (time of generation, lag-phase, yield of biomass) and biosynthetic activity was also investigated in those studies. 

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The successful adaptation of organisms to high concentration of ²H₂O will open a new avenues of investigation with using [U²H]labeled macromolecules could be isolated from these organisms. For example, fully deuterated essential macromolecules as proteins and nucleic acids will give promise of important biological, medical and diagnostical uses. Modern physical methods of study the structure of [U²H]labeled macromolecules, particularly three-dimentional NMR in a combination with crystallography methods, X-ray diffraction, IR-, and CDspectroscopy should cast new light on many obscure problems concerning with the biological introduction of deuterium into molecules of DNA and proteins as well as the structure and the function of macromolecules in the presence of ²H₂O. The variety of these and other aspects of biophysical properties of fully deuterated macromolecules in the presence of ²H₂O remain an interesting task for the future.

4.1. The main hypothese. We proposed that a cell theoretically could in principle synthezise a big number of forms of [²H]labeled macromolecules with somewhat different structures and conformations, so that a cell could easily select a preferable one from al these species in a course of adaptation to ²H₂O, that is the best suitable namely for that conditions. A simple imaginary principle I am going to discuss here perhaps somewhat may explain this probable mechanism. Let us suppose, for example that there are at least two imadinary structural systems - ordinary (normal) system call it a system 1 and unordinary (adaptive) system 2 (see a Figure above). Supporse, that the environment is a homoginious substanse and compose from ordinary substance A (H₂O) (situation 1). The necessarely condition for the normal working of this model in natural H₂O environment is that system 1 works and system 2 stay in background (situation 2). 

3.1. The methods for analyzing the structure and the conformation of [U -²H]labeled macromolecules. The biological labelling with deuterium is an useful tool for investigating the structure and the conformational properties of macromolecules. The fundamental objectives have meant that living models have retained their importance for functional studies of such biological important macromolecules and can be used to obtain structural and dynamic information about the [U -²H]labeled macromolecules.

A special attention will be given to the investigation of biological adaptation to ²H₂O allowing cells to synthesize a deuterated forms of macromolecules (particulary interest have DNA and short-chain individual proteins both with well known amino acid sequence and conformation) with a certain structure allowing their functioning in ²H₂O environment.

Firstly, in this connection it would be very interesting to know, how the structure of fully deuterated macromolecules could be changed neganively or positively in a course of biological adaptation to ²H₂O requiring the presence of high concentrations of ²H₂O in growth media.

The role of deuterium in molecular evolution is most interesting question of nowdays science comprises two points mainly: the evolution of deuterium itself as well as the chemical processes going with participation of deuterium. It is believed the big bang produce the universe that was much denser and hotter than it is now and made almost entirely of  two main elements - hydrogen and helium. Deuterium itself was made only at a second stage of the beginning of the universe, namely through the collision of one neutron with one proton at a temperature of about one billion degrees; furthemore the two formed deuterons in turn stuck together into helium nuclei, which contain two protons and two neutrons. It is considered, that during the formation of helium nuclei, almost all the deuterons combined to form helium nuclei, leaving a tiny remant to be detected today so that only one in 10.000 deuterons remained unpaired. Thus, deuterium serves as a particularly important marker. The quantity of deuterium in contemporary nature is approximately small and measured as no more than 0.015% (from the whole number of hydrogen atoms) and depends strongly on both the uniformity of substance and the total amount of matter formed in course of early evolution.

Scientific interests:

Application of various microbial objects for the preparation of cell compounds including proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates and nucleosides labeled with stable isotopes ²H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N;

Metabolism of stable isotopes;

Biological adaptation to heavy water and effects of heavy water on living objects;

Adaptation to heavy water;

Molecular evolution.

Russian scientist, biochemist, researcher of water, engineer of technology (1992), candidate of Science (Ph. D in Chemistry) Dr. Oleg V. Mosin was bourn in a military family and had spent much time in Ural region. In 1992 he graduated from Moscow State Academy named after M.V. Lomonosov and taken post-graduate studies from the same Academy on the theme of biotechnological methods of production of stable isotope labeled compounds and further worked under the leadership of prominent Soviet and Russian scientist the founder of Soviet and Russian school of biotechnology Doctor of Sciences, academician, professor Vitaly I. Shvetz where he studied many living objects to resistance to highly deuterium content in growth media. By employing special adaptation technique many living cells were adapted to high deuterium content in growth media to prepare deuterated macromolecules. A special attention was given to the investigation of biological adaptation to ²H₂O allowing cells to synthesize deuterated forms of macromolecules (DNA and short-chain individual proteins both with well known amino acid sequence and conformation) with a certain structure allowing their functioning in heavy water environment. For this purpose the special biotechnological approaches based on using the strains with improved properties when growing on heavy water for obtaining fully deuterated DNA and individual proteins were developed by him for allowing to prepare deuterated macromolecules in gram scale quantities.