Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Experimentelle Biophysik

Dr. Olga Baidukova  

I am an interdisciplinary researcher with expertise in protein biophysics, molecular biology and genomics.

Research Description:

Ion channels are responsible for basic functions in life, be it muscle contractions and neuron signals in humans or light-activated movement in microorganisms. 

Through my scientific career I focused on understanding function of such ion channels as channelrhodopsins, bestrophins and voltage-gated ion channels and exploring their potential for possible biomedical applications. 

Channelrhodopsins are light-gated cation channels that are responsible for light orientation of green microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and their discovery triggered a birth of a new scientific field, optogenetics. I studied function of channelrhodopsins in vivo by introducing targeted point mutations via gene editing and analysing their impact on light-activated behavior of algae with a set of biophysical methods.

Bestrophins are anion ligand-activated channels that were found across the tree of life, from microorganisms to humans. Their function differs from species to species. For example, in green algae Chlamydomonas bestrophins are a crucial link in a CO2 concentration mechanism. In humans, bestrophins are indispensable for ion transport in the retina of the eye and disruption of their function can lead to a severe retina degeneration. Using genetics, biophysical and computational approach, I am aiming to shed a light on function of bestrophins across the species and derive useful insights for clinical applications.

Finally, voltage-gated ion channels play a role in a number of rare diseases affecting heart, skeletal muscles and nervous system. The different disease outcomes rely on a loss as well as increase (gain) of channel activity. I work on prediction of functional effects in ion channels involved in rare diseases in a joint project of Hasso Plattner Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Hasso-Plattner Institute (Digital Health Cluster): https://hpi.de/renard/team.html

Publications: 

Baidukova O., Oppermann J., Kelterborn S., Fernandez Lahore R.G., Schumacher D., Evers H., Kamrani Y.Y., Hegemann P. (2022) Gating and ion selectivity of Channelrhodopsins are critical for photo-activated orientation of Chlamydomonas as shown by in vivo point mutation. Nat. Commun. 13, 7253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35018-6.

Wolfram M., Greif A., Baidukova O., Voll H., Tauber S., Lindacher J., Hegemann P., Kremer G. (2024) Insights into degradation and targeting of the photoreceptor channelrhodopsin-1. Plant, Cell Environ. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01039A

Catalan R.E., Fragkopulos A.A., von Trott N., Kelterborn S., Baidukova O., Hegemann P., Bäumchen O. (2023) Light regulated adsorption and desorption of Chlamydomonas cells at surfaces. Soft Matter 19, 306 - 314. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01039A

Wolfram M., Greif A., Sizova, I., Baidukova O., Hegemann P., Kreimer G. (2023) Multifactorial in vivo regulation of the photoreceptor channelrhodopsin-1 abundance. Plant Cell Environ. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14657

Baidukova O., Kelterborn S., Sizova I. and Hegemann P. (2022) Reverse Genetics. Chapter 17 In: Goodenough U. (eds) The Chlamydomonas Sourcebook. Volume 1: Introduction to Chlamydomonas and Its Laboratory, Academic Press, Cambridge, USA.

Kelterborn S., Boehning F., Sizova I., Baidukova O., Evers H., Hegemann P. (2022) Gene Editing in Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii via CRISPR-Cas9 Ribonucleoproteins. In: Zurbriggen M.D. (eds) Plant Synthetic Biology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2379. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1791-5_3

Baidukova O., Wang Q., Chaiwaree S., Freyer D., Prapan A., Georgieva R., Zhao L., Bäumler, H. (2018) Antioxidative protection of haemoglobin microparticles (HbMPs) by polydopamine. Artif. Cells Nanomed. Biotechnol. 46, 693–701. https://doi.org/10.1080/21691401.2018.1505748

Baidukova O., Skorb E. (2016) Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles from magnesium. Ultrason. Sonochem. 31, 423 - 248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2016.01.034

Baidukova O., Möhwald H., Mazheika A. S., Sviridov D. V., Palamarciuc T., Weber B.,             Cherepanov P. V., Andreeva D. V., Skorb E. V. (2015) Sonogenerated metal-hydrogen sponges for reactive hard templating. Chem. Commun., 51, 7606 – 7609. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4CC10026C