Speaker: Oleg Vladimirovich Batishchev (Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Frumkin of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

Topic of the report: “Bilayer lipid membranes as models of the lipid matrix of cell membranes: mechanisms of stability and practical applications”

Annotation:
Two-layer lipid membranes are a convenient and well-established model of the lipid matrix of cell membranes. Any interaction of substances from the external environment, be it ions, macromolecules, nanoparticles or viruses, begins with their binding to the cell membrane and largely depends on the properties of the lipid matrix. Our research in the field of studying the structure of lipid membranes and the physicochemical mechanisms of their resistance allowed us to build a complete physical model of the process of pore formation in biological membranes, including in the presence of peptide antibiotics. Protein-lipid interactions regulate many processes of cellular activity, as well as the course of viral infection. The fact that the molecules involved in these events, for the most part, carry a charge or have a dipole moment, allows us to use various electrochemical methods and approaches to study them. Combining bioelectrochemical methods with methods of structural biophysics, we study the processes of adsorption and self-organization of matrix proteins of envelope viruses and the mechanisms of protein-lipid interactions during infection of cells with some envelope viruses. The same approaches allow us to study the effect on cell membranes of photosensitizers (FS) used in photodynamic therapy of cancer cells, changes in the structure of membranes and lipid packaging, and much more.