Scientists at NNGU have found a way to enhance the effectiveness of anticancer drugs.

      January 10, 2026 14:05 Society

      At Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University (NNSU), an innovative method for synthesizing compounds to enhance the activity of anticancer drugs has been developed. The method allows adding booster fragments to existing pharmaceutical drugs, the university's press service said.

      Scientists from the Department of Organic Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry have developed a technology for incorporating aminomethyl groups into biologically active compounds that suppress the growth of tumor cells. This significantly increases the effectiveness of anticancer drugs.

      Vasily Otvagin, an associate professor in the Department of Organic Chemistry, explained that in the 1980s these compounds were actively researched, but their chemical structure made them unstable and prone to rapid decomposition, which hindered their application. Zinc chloride was used to stabilize the synthesis process. The high yield and purity of the product make the method interesting for scientists and pharmaceutical production.

      Aminomethyl groups act as pharmacophore fragments, enhancing the efficacy of anticancer drugs. The new reaction allows these fragments to be added to finished medicines.

      Ekaterina Kudryashova, a junior researcher at the Department of Organic Chemistry, said that the method is also used to synthesize new biologically active compounds, including substances with nitrogen-containing heterocycles that may have significant biological activity. The method also allows peptides targeted at tumor cells to be attached in a single step.

      The research was carried out by scientists from the Faculty of Chemistry, the Research Institute of Chemistry and the Department of Biophysics of the Institute of Biology and Biomedicine of Lobachevsky University in collaboration with the Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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