Biodistribution of Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamonds in Mice after Intravenous Administration and Some Biochemical Changes in Blood Plasma.

Biodistribution of nanodiamonds in mice after intravenous administration, activities of AST and ALT, and the level of bilirubin in the blood plasma were studied in 2.5 h and 10, 35, and 97 days after injection of nanodiamonds. In 2.5 h after intravenous injection, nanodiamonds mainly accumulate in the lungs and liver. Then, redistribution of nanodiamonds from all organs to the liver was observed. Activities of AST and ALT and the level of bilirubin in the blood increased after 2.5 h and then decreased to the initial values.

Distribution of Ferrihydrite Nanoparticles in the Body and Possibility of Controlling Them in an Isolated Organ by a Permanent Magnetic Field.

We studied the distribution of ferrihydrite nanoparticles isolated from bacteria Klebsiella oxytoca in the whole body in vivo and in a cultured isolated organ (liver). The possibility of controlling these nanoparticles in the body using a magnetic field was assessed. One hour after intravenous injection of ferrihydrite nanoparticles to mice, their accumulation was observed in the liver, lungs, and kidneys. Experiment with cultured isolated rat liver showed that these nanoparticles can be controlled by a magnetic field and the influence of magnetic nanoparticles on the liver over 1 h does not lead to destruction of liver cells associated with the release of the marker enzyme AST. These results show the possibility of using magnetic nanoparticles as a system for controlled drug delivery in the body.

Detection of nanodiamonds in biological samples by EPR spectrometry.

In model experiments in vitro, the applicability of the EPR spectrometry method for the detection of modified nanodiamonds (MNDs) in blood and homogenates of mouse organs has been established. A characteristic signal (g = 2.003, ΔH ≈ 10 G) is observed in the samples of biomaterials containing MNDs, the intensity of which increases linearly with the concentration of nanoparticles in the range of 1.6-200 µg MNDs per 1 mL of the sample. The EPR method in biomaterials reveals the presence of intrinsic paramagnetic centers, signals from which are superimposed on the signal from the MNDs. However, the intensity of these signals is small, which makes it possible to register the MNDs using EPR spectrometry with the necessary accuracy. The data obtained open up the prospects of using the EPR method for studies of the interorgan distribution, accumulation, and elimination of MNDs during their intravenous injection into experimental animals.

The Rurikids: The First Experience of Reconstructing the Genetic Portrait of the Ruling Family of Medieval Rus' Based on Paleogenomic Data.

The Rurikids were the reigning house of Rus', its principalities and, ultimately the Tsardom of Russia, for seven centuries: from the IX to the end of the XVI century. According to the Primary Chronicle (the Tale of Bygone Years), the main chronicle of Rus', the Rurik dynasty was founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, invited to reign in Novgorod in 862, but still there is no direct genetic evidence of the origin of the early Rurikids. This research, for the first time, provides a genome-wide paleogenetic analysis of bone remains belonging to one of the Rurikids, Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich (?-1294), the son of the Grand Prince of Vladimir Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (1221-1263). It has been established that his Y chromosome belongs to the N1a haplogroup. Most of the modern Rurikids, according to their genealogies, belonging to the N1a haplogroup, have the most similar variants of Y chromosomes to each other, as well as to the Y chromosome of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich. Genome-wide data of the medieval and modern Rurikids unequivocally indicates that they belong to the N1a haplogroup of the Y chromosome, starting at least from the XI century (since the time of Prince Yaroslav the Wise). All the other alleged Rurikids, both ancient and modern, being carriers of other haplogroups (R1a, I2a), possess high heterogeneity of the sequence of Y chromosomes, meaning that we cannot confirm their common ancestry. The most probable ancestors of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich in the male line were the men who left the burial ground Bolshoy Oleny Island on the coast of the Kola Peninsula about 3,600 years ago. The reconstruction of the genome of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich indicates the contribution of three ancestral components to his origin: (1) the early medieval population of the east of Scandinavia from the island of Oland, (2) representatives of the steppe nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes of the Iron Age or the early medieval population of central Europe (steppe nomads from the territory of Hungary), and (3) the ancient East-Eurasian component. Reliable statistics were also obtained when the Scandinavians were replaced with the Medieval Russian Slavic populations of the XI century. Thus, for the first time, we have shown the complex nature of interethnic interactions in the formation of the nobility of medieval Rus' on the example of the ancient Rurikid.