160 YEARS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE BOGOMOLETS NATIONAL MEDICAL UNIVERSITY: VECTOR OF THE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL MOVEMENT THROUGH THE CENTURY

Abstract

Biological chemistry as an independent science and educational discipline – physiological or medical chemistry – was formed in the second half of the 19th century on the basis of the general development of the natural sciences and the application of the laws and methodology of organic chemistry for the study of living organisms. Elucidation of the molecular laws of life and functioning of living organisms, different types of cells in all their diversity attracted many scientists in different countries of the world. In fruitful cooperation and scientific communication during congresses, symposia, and scientific conferences, medical biochemistry received a new lease of life, actual directions in its development were found, and those horizons were revealed that determined the work of scientific teams for decades. The Department of Medical Chemistry (today, the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) was created in 1863, shortly after the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine as part of St. Volodymyr Kyiv University. In different years, the department was headed and worked by such prominent scientists as O.O. Sheffer, O.A. Sadoven, S.S. Kravchenko, S.V. Fomin, S.I. Vynokurov, D.L. Ferdman, R.V. Chagovets, E.F. Shamrai, Yu.V. Khmelevskyi, Yu.I. Gubskyi. And throughout the entire period of existence, the main task of the department was to teach future doctors modern knowledge in the field of molecular principles of the vital activity of the human body and to implement an important humanistic mission. The main scientific direction of the department in recent decades has been the development of issues of biochemistry and pathobiochemistry of oxygenase reactions, processes of microsomal oxidation, elucidation of the role of cytochrome P-450 in the formation of free radical metabolites of xenobiotics, the study of molecular mechanisms of damage to membranes and the genetic apparatus of the cell, the course of reactions of lipid peroxidation, therapeutic – preventive use of bioantioxidants. The priority developments of the corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, professor Yu.I. Gubskyi and the scientific school headed by him had a series of works devoted to reactions of lipoperoxidation in nuclear chromatin, free-radical damage to DNA, the role of calcium ions in the disruption of metabolic processes under conditions of antioxidant deficiency and the action of highly toxic xenobiotics. The problem of regulation of intracellular metabolism with the participation of nicotinamide coenzymes, in particular post-translational modification of proteins by ADP-ribosylation, was studied. The scientific-pedagogical team continues today the main scientific-methodical traditions of the glorious department, introducing the current achievements of biochemical science into the practice of the modern educational process of training future doctors.