National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

KONEV Sergey Vasilevich

Sergey Vasilevich Konev (19.01.1931, v. Lokot, Bryansk region, Russia – 21.10.2005), a scientist in the field of molecular and membrane biophysics. Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1994; corresponding member since 1989), Doctor of Biological Sciences (1968), Professor (1969).

He discovered ultraviolet fluorescence of proteins, established the nature and properties of fluorophores, and estimated the efficiency of energy migration in a macromolecule. The regularities of UV-inactivation of proteins are revealed: the development of the process from singlet excited states of tryptophanil, the dependence of the quantum yield on the conformation, the phenomenon of photochemical allotropy. A photobiological reaction has been detected - photoblocking of the electron-transport chain of mitochondria inhibited by cyanide. The ability of proteins to exist in several discrete conformations that cooperatively transform into each other in the physiological temperature range has been established. Substantiated ideas about cooperative, generalized structural reorganizations of biomembranes and their regulatory role. Functionally significant long-range interaction between membrane receptors is revealed. A solid-frame liquid-model biomembrane model has been developed. The involvement of the structural dynamics of mitochondrial membranes in the conjugation between the electron transport chain and ATP synthesis has been revealed. A remote mechanism for the regulation of highly permeable cell-to-cell contacts through a wave of structural rearrangements was discovered. A new biophysical pathway for regulating the proliferative activity of the microbial population through membrane restructuring initiated by dynamic contacts has been established. The concept of strained metastable membrane states as important regulatory factors has been put forward. The foundations of cell and membrane ozone biology are laid. Using ozone, a new effective biotechnology for producing ATP from yeast has been developed. The mechanism of cerebral edema is established as the main cause of death in cerebral pathologies (ischemia, stroke, mechanical injuries, tumors), which is based on the release of neurotransmitters from the nerve cell during hypoosmotic swelling and their accumulation in the synaptic cleft.

Author of more than 600 scientific papers, incl. 13 monographs, 27 inventions.

State Prize of the Republic of Belarus in 1992 for the series of works "Luminescence of proteins and its use in scientific research and practice".

Awarded with medals.

Major papers:

  1. Электронно-возбужденные состояния биополимеров. Мн., 1965.
  2. Межклеточные контакты. Мн., 1977.
  3. Структурная лабильность биологических мембран и регуляторные процессы. Мн., 1987.
  4. Биомембрана: структура, ее рациональная подвижность, функции, регуляция // Биофизика живых систем: от молекулы к организму. Мн., 2002.