April 17, 2026 at the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, under the chairmanship of the leading research fellow of the Department of Scientific-Informational and Innovative Research of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Olga Matyshevska, the thirty-second meeting of the general academic interdisciplinary seminar in the field of natural sciences "Topical Issues of Physico-Chemical and Mathematical Biology" took place. The seminar leader, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Muscle Biochemistry of this Institute, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Serhiy Kosterin, presented the report "Calixarenes as Stimulators of Muscle Contraction Energy". In his presentation, the speaker emphasized that one of the urgent transdisciplinary biochemical and biophysical problems is the elucidation of ionic, molecular, and membrane mechanisms controlling intracellular calcium homeostasis and the process of Ca2+-dependent "contraction-relaxation" of muscles. Scientists from the Department of Muscle Biochemistry of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, together with colleagues from the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine (including Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Vitaliy Kalchenko, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Serhiy Cherenok, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Roman Rodik, and others) and the Educational and Scientific Institute of High Technologies of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Olga Tsymbalyuk), have been conducting systematic biophysical and chemical studies for a long time on the molecular and membrane mechanisms controlling calcium ion concentration in smooth muscle cells. This mainly concerns the study of energy-dependent cation-transport systems of myocytes, specifically the investigation of: - properties (enzymatic, kinetic, energetic) of these systems; - patterns of directed regulation of their activity by various effectors, including macrocyclic compounds – calixarenes; - the mechanism of functioning and biological role of cation-transport systems. The world's first original publication on the effect of calixarenes on active transport systems of calcium and sodium ions was published 20 years ago: R.Rodik, V.Boiko, O.Danylyuk, K.Suwinska, I.Tsymbal, N.Slinchenko, L.Babich, S.Shlykov, S.Kosterin, J.Lipkowski, V.Kalchenko. Calix[4]arensulfonylamidines. Synthesis, structure and influence on Mg2+, ATP-dependent calcium pumps. Tetrahedron Letters. vol.46, No.43, 2005, pp.7459-7462. The transdisciplinary cycle of research, whose theoretical and methodological aspects were addressed in the report by Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Serhiy Kosterin, was carried out at the intersection of biochemical membranology, enzymology, chemical and biochemical kinetics, chemistry of macrocyclic compounds, molecular physiology, biomechanics, in silico modeling, and mathematical modeling. The scientist touched upon the following issues: 1) smooth muscle cell as an open (in the thermodynamic sense) isothermal tensoelectrochemical receptor system capable of Ca2+-dependent "contraction-relaxation"; intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis; 2) energy-dependent cation transport systems in smooth muscles (electroenzymes – Mg2+, ATP-dependent calcium and sodium pumps of the plasma membrane; mitochondrial calcium uniporter); 3) calixarenes and certain information about these compounds that is significant for biology; 4) selected calixarenes as selective and affine inhibitors of Mg2+, ATP-dependent cation-transport electroenzymes; 5) chalcone calixarenes as promising modulators of the energetic status of mitochondria; 6) original methodology for calculating the energetic characteristics of the "contraction-relaxation" process of smooth muscles; the influence of selected calixarenes on the energy of the contractile process (using the example of the action of calix[4]arene C-1130). The speaker noted that, based on the factual material presented in the report, there are grounds to conclude that selected calixarenes can be considered stimulators of muscle cell energetics. The following participants asked questions and took part in the discussion: - Head of the Department of Biophysics and Neurobiology of the Educational and Scientific Center "Institute of Biology and Medicine" of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Oleksandr Zholos; - Head of the Department of Neuro-Muscular Physiology of the O.O. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology of the NAS of Ukraine, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Yaroslav Shuba; - Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry of the Chemistry Faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Ihor Frytskyi; - Director of the International Institute of Cryosurgery (Vienna, Austria), Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Mykola Korpan; - Professor of Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, Doctor of Technical Sciences Tetyana Shcherbatiuk; - Head of the Department of Macrocyclic Compounds Chemistry of the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Serhiy Cherenok; - Head of the Immunobiology Laboratory of the Department of Molecular Immunology of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Denys Kolibo; - Head of the Department of Neurochemistry of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Tetyana Borysova; - Leading Research Fellow of the Department of Scientific-Informational and Innovative Research of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Olga Matyshevska; - Advisor to the Directorate of the V.P. Kukhar Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Mechanisms of Bioorganic Reactions of this Institute, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Andriy Vovk; - Head of the Department of Cell Signaling Mechanisms of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Lyudmyla Drobot. Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Olga Matyshevska, in her closing remarks, thanked Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Serhiy Kosterin for his report and wished him and his department further creative success in studying current problems of muscle biochemistry and biophysics. The speaker, in turn, expressed gratitude to the seminar attendees for their attention to his presentation. The final highlight of the meeting was "Grand Etude after Paganini No. 6, A minor" by Ferenc Liszt, performed by a student of the National Music Academy of Ukraine Kyrylo Kadurin. VIDEO RECORDING Video recordings of all seminar meetings are available on the YouTube channel of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine. P.S.The next seminar meeting is scheduled for May 2026.
Information from the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine
Photo credit – Volodymyr Koshovenko
