Komsomolskaya Pravda: Is it possible to outwit Alzheimer’s disease, find a cure for aging and save yourself from allergies?

Kirill, have you been interested in science since childhood? When did you fall for biology?

Of all subjects at school, I liked mathematics best. In it, everything is logical. And this cannot but calm a young, inquisitive mind. Initially, biology seemed to me something completely beyond systematisation and explanation. A huge number of the most diverse organisms: the kingdoms of protozoa, representatives of flora and fauna ─ all of that not obeying any rules. At that time, biology seemed to me the exact opposite of mathematics. Is it possible to understand it?

A little later, at the age of twelve, I got acquainted with genetics after watching a science fiction movie. I got interested in whether we can not only describe, but also really change living beings. Later on, I became a member of an after-school club where I got to know genetics in more detail. I saw that genetics was similar to mathematics. They shared common research methods. Using these methods, genetics describes wildlife phenomena while mathematics describes logarithms.

That is an interesting comparison. Can you give a practical example when you resort to mathematics for your scientific conclusions?

In modern biology, a large area has developed. It is called bioinformatics and it is aimed at analysing arrays of biological data. It uses approaches borrowed from informatics and mathematics. The team of our laboratory actively uses these methods.

Your research interests include the study of amyloids. Could you please explain what these molecules are?

Previously, amyloids were understood as particular protein structures. These molecules have been found in many other organisms such as animals, bacteria, and fungi, but they were unknown in plants. Together with the head of our laboratory Anton Nizhnikov, we made a discovery and found amyloids in plants.

Finding of amyloids in plants could help create varieties with more nutritious and hypoallergenic seeds

Plant cultivars need proteins to mature. When plants reach their growth, they can independently obtain the necessary molecules from the external environment. But seeds can only rely on the supply of proteins that was accumulated in them during their maturation. In order not to be destroyed during the period from maturation to germination, which can sometimes be up to several years or even decades, these proteins pass to a stable state that has a number of features. In this state, proteins are called amyloids.

Amyloids are also found in the human body and are associated with the development of various diseases. For example, with Alzheimer’s disease. Has modern science, thanks to the study of amyloids, been able to establish what can protect the brain from dementia?

Alzheimer’s disease is a rather complex process, with a large number of factors that influence its onset. Unfortunately, there are still no means that can guarantee us brain protection from dementia today.

In 2020, you became a winner of the Presidential Prize in Science and Innovation for Young Scientists. And this discovery was also associated with amyloids. How did you come to it?

Biologists at St Petersburg University become laureates of the Presidential Prize for Young Scientists

Together with Anton Nizhnikov and our colleagues from the All-Russia Research Institute of Agricultural Microbiology, St Petersburg University and other organisations, we were the first to demonstrate the formation of amyloids in plants. Previously, these molecules had been found only in animals or had been associated with the development of serious human diseases such as some forms of cancer.

Amyloid proteins are very stable. It was this statement that became the foundation of our approach to their determination in plants. Initially, we processed plant tissues. If this process resulted with many proteins remaining, we studied them in more detail. A complete confirmation of amyloid properties required the involvement of a large number of methods. As a result, we managed to confirm our hypothesis and find proteins.

Is it true that your discovery made it possible to create less allergenic varieties of beans?

It would be great if scientists could develop a new variety based on our research. And this is possible for modern science. Now our laboratory is studying protein varieties that are found in different bean family cultivars. But even the existing varieties differ a lot in the ability of their proteins to form amyloids. In the long term, studying these mechanisms could help us create less allergenic varieties of peas, peanuts, and other legumes.

Also, the results of the study may help scientists create plant cultures with super-nutritious seeds in future.

You defended your dissertation in genetics. Scientists are still involved in the following dispute. Is the work of our brain determined by a set of genes inherited from our parents or is it formed by the environment we live in?

I would say that the work of the brain is determined by something between the inherited genes and the environment. The functioning of the mind is equally influenced by the set of genes that we received from our parents and the environment we grew up in. Determining a specific contribution for such a complex concept as the "work of the brain" is very difficult.

Can genetic engineering finally help humanity find a cure for ageing and stay forever young?

Genetic engineering is a set of methods. As far as I know, it is still not completely clear how the ageing process is controlled and how it could be slowed down or stopped. I would compare genetic engineering with the oil and gas industry here. No matter how good we are at extracting oil, that will not help us until we know where the oil field is located.

What research project are you currently involved in?

Our team at the laboratory of the All-Russia Research Institute is studying why pathogenic bacteria can infect certain types of animals, but cannot infect others. Understanding these mechanisms is in demand in agriculture now, to combat various insect pests, for example.

In the near future, Kirill Antonets plans to continue studying bacteria that could be used in agriculture. The scientist hopes he will be able to move from purely fundamental research to the development of products and technologies that can be applied in plant growing practice.