Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have been telling about some of our projects with a touch of sadness, because we understand that our country needs their results today. At the same time, we are sure that after the funding is resumed, the authors will finalize them as quickly as possible and will do everything to implement the results of the work into life.
Today we would like to talk about a project that helps us look into the future when the enemy is defeated, Ukrainians will be rebuilding the country, and everyone will definitely need energy, health and longevity.
Researchers of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University carry out the project ‘Intermediates of the phenylpropanoid pathway as substances for prolonging the expectancy and quality of life’. Maria Bayliak, project PI, the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, has been working on this topic for more than 10 years. Together with her colleagues, the researcher studied the healing properties of Rhodiola rosea which grows in the Carpathians. Researchers are convinced that the phenolic substances found in the plant increase the life expectancy of model organisms. Yeast grown on rhodiola rosea extract lived longer, and fruit flies not only lived longer, but also were more active.
Researchers studied the effect of rhodiola rosea based on physiological indicators of model organisms, but they sought to learn more, to understand what biochemical processes occur in cells of the organism.
– Unfortunately, it was impossible to carry out such a study without modern equipment, – says the project PI. – That’s why we were very delighted about the first NRFU calls and immediately submitted our application to the call ‘Support for Research of Leading and Young Scientists’. We were happy when our project was selected and received grant funding.
The researcher said that the task of combating aging is one of the most important ones for scientists from many countries around the world. Moreover, researchers are trying to simultaneously increase life expectancy and improve its quality, in particular, to preserve agility and cognitive functions of older people.
“The average life expectancy in Europe is 77 years, and in Ukraine, according to pre-war statistics, it is 67 years,” Maria continues. “Of course, not everything depends on the person. There can be incurable diseases, accidents and other external circumstances (war, for instance). But still, everything that depends on a person, he/she can and should do for his/her own health. For example, move more, eat healthy food, and have enough of sleep.”
At this point in the conversation, the researcher pauses. Then she says that, of course, it is strange to talk about sound sleep when the whole country wakes up every night to air-raid sirens. Nevertheless, we must remember that the enemy is trying to throw us off balance, to sow panic and anxiety, but healthy sleep and good health work for our victory.
The project carried out with grant funding of the NRFU by Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University team aims to find out how the phenolic substances contained in Rhodiola rosea act at the cellular level. Researchers are also studying the properties of other plants that contain phenolic compounds and pure phenolic substances.
Researchers study the effect of these substances on fruit flies and mice. Before the war, they had managed to carry out most of the planned experiments with the fruit fly. They had also raised two groups of mice and begun to compare the results in young mice with older ones.
“Nutrition in the two groups was different,” explains the researcher. “In the first one, rodents were fed with rhodiola extract and other plants that contain phenolic compounds. In the other group, mice were fed with high-calorie food rich in fats and carbs.”
For more than a year, the researchers had been observing the indicators of animals from these groups, and at the beginning of 2022 they began to analyze what happens in the body of old mice (aging processes need to be studied on rodents that are more than a year old). And here came the first good results! The researchers found out that both the indicators and the activity of these mice are much higher than in the other group. “By the way, we saw that mice are similar to humans in their eating habits,” Maria smiles. “In the other group, the rodents were offered a choice between usual healthy food and high-calorie food. Usually, the mice chose the unhealthy (crackers, chips, cookies), but tasty food.”
Using the NRFU grant funding, the researchers purchased expensive devices that allow determining the level of gene expression in cells, conducting polymerase chain reaction, analyzing histological sections, and storing frozen tissue samples at a low temperature.
The low-temperature refrigerator helped save the results of scientists’ work during the war. In the first days, the researchers collected samples (in compliance with all bioethical norms), and the tissues were frozen. “If it weren’t for the refrigerator, we wouldn’t have been able to save the material. Because even nitrogen, which we used to store the samples, was not possible to find in our region in the spring,” explained the project PI.
We asked Maria what were the first days and weeks of the war like for her and her team.
“It was a period of confusion and not understanding what to do, what would happen next,” she answered. “In the first weeks, the enemy shelled the city intensively, the airport was destroyed. Of course, it was scary. I know the history of Ukraine well, so I understood what the russian occupation means.”
However, the period of uncertainty quickly passed, and the researchers resumed their work. In particular, frozen samples were studied in the summer, and an article was published in an international journal based on the results of the work. In order to set up the equipment again after the break, they called the manufacturers from Mariupol. “We were told on the phone that the man who used to fix our equipment before the war had died. He was killed by russian soldiers,” said the researcher.
There are ten members of the project team. Three members of the team are leading researchers, and seven are early-career researchers (students, graduate students). According to the results obtained while working in the project, early career researchers have already started preparing scientific papers.
“Our team is very united, we support and help each other,” added Maria. “We understand that the war will not end in two or three weeks, so we are trying to be resistant. We hope that the results of our work will ultimately help people become stronger and healthier.”
Interviewed by Svitlana GALATA
