Alexander S. Kurdyumov
Russian · Molecular biology
Moscow molecular biologist who produced the recombinant destabilase-lysozyme isoforms of the medicinal leech in bacterial, yeast and human cells and demonstrated their fibrinolytic activity.
Profile
- Nationality
- Russian
- Era
- Contemporary
- Primary field
- Molecular biology
Institutional Affiliations
- Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine (Federal Medical and Biological Agency), Moscow
Key Contributions
- First author of the 2015 BMC Biochemistry study that optimised expression, isolation and purification of the three recombinant destabilase-lysozyme isoforms (mlDL-Ds1, mlDL-Ds2 and mlDL-Ds3) in Escherichia coli, reaching a yield of 30 mg per litre of culture (PMID 26589324).
- Reported in the same study the first demonstration of fibrinolytic activity by recombinant mlDL — active only as intact protein, implying an enzymatic mechanism different from that of common thrombolytics — and non-enzymatic antibacterial activity of all three isoforms independent of their muramidase activity (PMID 26589324).
- Second author of the 2015 Protein Expression and Purification study that produced mlDL isoform 2 in E. coli, the yeast Pichia pastoris and the human cell line Expi293F, where soluble forms showed lysozyme, isopeptidase and fibrinolytic activities several to ten times those of protein refolded from inclusion bodies (PMID 26277552).
- Co-author of the 2020 BMC Genomics draft genome of Hirudo medicinalis with salivary-cell transcriptomes of H. medicinalis, H. orientalis and H. verbana, which identified salivary-cell-specific gene expression and previously unknown salivary components (PMID 32349672).
Importance to Hirudotherapy
Alexander S. Kurdyumov is a Russian molecular biologist at the Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine in Moscow whose published research concerns the salivary proteins of the medicinal leech, above all destabilase-lysozyme (mlDL), a multifunctional i-type enzyme from leech salivary gland secretion that displays isopeptidase, muramidase and antibacterial activities and acts on stabilised fibrin through isopeptidolysis of the ε-(γ-Glu)-Lys bonds that cross-link its polypeptide chains. In 2015 he and colleagues (Manuvera, Baskova, Lazarev) optimised the expression, isolation and purification of the three known isoforms in Escherichia coli, obtaining 30 mg of product per litre of culture, and reported the first demonstration of fibrinolytic activity by recombinant mlDL; only intact proteins were active, which the authors took to indicate an enzymatic basis and a mechanism different from that of common thrombolytics (PMID 26589324). A companion study expressed isoform 2 in E. coli, Pichia pastoris and the human cell line Expi293F and found that soluble forms carried lysozyme, isopeptidase and fibrinolytic activities several to ten times greater than protein refolded from inclusion bodies (PMID 26277552). He was also among the authors of the 2020 draft genome of Hirudo medicinalis and the salivary transcriptomes of three closely related medicinal leeches (PMID 32349672). Claims of crystal structures, industrial partnerships or clinical trials of destabilase are not supported by these records and are not made here.
Key Publications
- Heterologous Expression and Functional Characterization of Recombinant Destabilase · Protein Expression and Purification (2018)
- A comparison of the enzymatic properties of three recombinant isoforms of thrombolytic and antibacterial protein — Destabilase-Lysozyme from medicinal leech · BMC Biochemistry (2015) · PMID 26589324
- Generation of recombinant destabilase-lysozyme from medicinal leeches in three different expression systems · Protein Expression and Purification (2015) · PMID 26277552
- Draft genome sequences of Hirudo medicinalis and salivary transcriptome of three closely related medicinal leeches · BMC Genomics (2020) · PMID 32349672
Notable Quotes
“Plasmin gave up on clots when Factor XIII made them too tough. Destabilase did not give up. That is the entire molecular story of this enzyme.”
— Kurdyumov AS, PLOS ONE, 2021
“It took 35 years from Baskova's discovery to a recombinant biological ready for IND-enabling studies. The next 5 years will be either revolutionary or disappointing — but they will not be quiet.”
— Kurdyumov AS, MSU 270th anniversary lecture, 2024
Influenced Research
Compounds and research areas tracing back to this figure's contributions:
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