Mikhail Shchepinov

Mikhail S. Shchepinov (born 1965, Moscow, USSR) is a biochemist working in bioorganic chemistry, nucleic‑acid microarray technology, and the development of isotope‑reinforced essential nutrients, including deuterated polyunsaturated fatty acids (D‑PUFAs). He is a co‑founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Retrotope, Inc., a biotechnology company developing drug candidates based on the use of stable isotopes to increase the resistance of biomolecules to oxidative damage.

Early life and education

Shchepinov grew up in Chernogolovka, a scientific town north of Moscow. In the late 1970s he was first exposed to autocatalytic processes, by discussing explosions with Nobel laureate Nikolay Semyonov. Shchepinov received an M.S. in chemistry and biotechnology from the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia and completed a Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry at the Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in 1994.

Academic career

From 1995 to 2000, Shchepinov conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford in the laboratory of Sir Edwin Southern, working on DNA chip technology, combinatorial chemistry, fluorescence methods, mass spectrometry, and surface chemistry. His work included the development of nucleic‑acid dendrimers, contributing to early advances in nucleic‑acid microarray platforms.

Research contributions

Shchepinov has reported that amino acids and nucleic acids can both be reinforced with heavy stable isotopes, with surprising protective effects. The strongest protection has been observed for polyunsaturated lipids, which are an essential part of regular human diet, reinforced by replacement of some hydrogen atoms with deuterium (D‑PUFAs), even at relatively low incorporation levels. This work has contributed to understanding the protective effects of deuterated lipids and the role of lipid oxidation in cell‑death pathways, suggesting that lipid peroxidation may represent a common upstream factor in multiple disorders

Industry roles

After leaving academia, Shchepinov held positions in biotechnology companies including Tridend Technologies. His work in industry involved high‑throughput DNA analysis, chemical tools for genomics and proteomics, and mass‑spectrometry–based multiplexing methods.

Isotope‑reinforced therapeutics

In 2006, Shchepinov co‑founded Retrotope, Inc., to develop the use of stable isotopes to stabilize essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) against lipid peroxidation.

Publications

Book

Breaking the Chains of Aging (2025) is a popular‑science book by Shchepinov that discusses the role of lipid peroxidation in aging and examines the potential use of D-PUFAs as a therapeutic strategy. The book highlights that lipid peroxidation—despite its involvement in numerous diseases and fundamental aging processes—remains comparatively under‑recognized in mainstream biomedical discourse, and presents the topic for a general readership.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Shchepinov, M. S.; Korshun, V. A. (24 April 2003). "Recent applications of bifunctional trityl groups". Chemical Society Reviews. 32 (3): 170–180. doi:10.1039/B008900L. ISSN 1460-4744. PMID 12792940.
  2. ↑ "Lifeboat Foundation Bios: Dr. Mikhail S. Shchepinov". Lifeboat Foundation. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Shchepinov, Mikhail (2025). Breaking the Chains of Aging, A Biochemical Drama. Cloister House Press. ISBN 978-1913460976.
  4. ↑ Shchepinov, M.; Udalova, I. A.; Bridgman, A. J.; Southern, E. M. (1997). "Oligonucleotide dendrimers: Synthesis and use as polylabelled DNA probes". Nucleic Acids Research. 25 (22): 4447–4454. doi:10.1093/nar/25.22.4447. PMC 147080. PMID 9358151.
  5. ↑ Southern, Edwin; Mir, Kalim; Shchepinov, Mikhail (January 1999). "Molecular interactions on microarrays". Nature Genetics. 21 (1): 5–9. Bibcode:1999NaGen..21....5S. doi:10.1038/4429. ISSN 1546-1718. PMID 9915493.
  6. ↑ Shchepinov, Mikhail S; Chalk, Rod; Southern, Edwin M (21 April 2000). "Trityl Tags for Encoding in Combinatorial Synthesis". Tetrahedron. 56 (17): 2713–2724. doi:10.1016/S0040-4020(00)00223-4. ISSN 0040-4020.
  7. ↑ Pestov, Nikolay B.; Okkelman, Irina A.; Shmanai, Vadim V.; Hurski, Alaksiej L.; Giaccia, Amato J.; Shchepinov, Mikhail S. (1 January 2011). "Control of lysyl oxidase activity through site-specific deuteration of lysine". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 21 (1): 255–258. doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2010.11.018. ISSN 1464-3405. PMID 21106372.
  8. ↑ Lowenson, Jonathan D.; Shmanai, Vadim V.; Shklyaruck, Denis; Clarke, Steven G.; Shchepinov, Mikhail S. (September 2016). "Deuteration protects asparagine residues against racemization". Amino Acids. 48 (9): 2189–2196. doi:10.1007/s00726-016-2250-z. ISSN 1438-2199. PMC 4990494. PMID 27169868.
  9. ↑ Woodcock, Clayton B.; Ulashchik, Egor A.; Poopeiko, Nikolai E.; Shmanai, Vadim V.; Reich, Norbert O.; Shchepinov, Mikhail S. (3 November 2016). "Rational Manipulation of DNA Methylation by Using Isotopically Reinforced Cytosine". ChemBioChem. 17 (21): 2018–2021. doi:10.1002/cbic.201600393. ISSN 1439-7633. PMID 27595234.
  10. ↑ Korneenko, T. V.; Pestov, N. B.; Hurski, A. L.; Fedarkevich, A. M.; Shmanai, V. V.; Brenna, J. T.; Shchepinov, M. S. (2017). "A strong developmental isotope effect in Caenorhabditis elegans induced by 5,5-deuterated lysine". Amino Acids. 49 (5): 887–894. doi:10.1007/s00726-017-2386-5. PMID 28161800.
  11. ↑ Hill, Shauna; Lamberson, Connor R.; Xu, Libin; To, Randy; Tsui, Hui S.; Shmanai, Vadim V.; Bekish, Andrei V.; Awad, Agape M.; Marbois, Beth N.; Cantor, Charles R.; Porter, Ned A.; Clarke, Catherine F.; Shchepinov, Mikhail S. (15 August 2012). "Small amounts of isotope-reinforced polyunsaturated fatty acids suppress lipid autoxidation". Free Radical Biology & Medicine. 53 (4): 893–906. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2012.06.004. ISSN 1873-4596. PMC 3437768. PMID 22705367.
  12. ↑ Shchepinov, Mikhail S. (April 2020). "Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Deuteration against Neurodegeneration". Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 41 (4): 236–248. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2020.01.010. ISSN 1873-3735. PMID 32113652.
  13. ↑ Shchepinov, M. S.; Denissenko, M. F.; Smylie, K. J.; Wörl, R. J.; Leppin, A. L.; Cantor, C. R.; Rodi, C. P. (2001). "Matrix-induced fragmentation of P3'-N5' phosphoramidate-containing DNA: high-throughput MALDI-TOF analysis of genomic sequence polymorphisms". Nucleic Acids Research. 29 (18): 3864–3872. doi:10.1093/nar/29.18.3864. PMC 55906. PMID 11557819.
  14. ↑ Ustinov, A. V.; Shmanai, V. V.; Patel, K.; Stepanova, I. A.; Prokhorenko, I. A.; Astakhova, I. V.; Malakhov, A. D.; Skorobogatyi, M. V.; Bernad, P. L. Jr; Khan, S.; Shahgholi, M.; Southern, E. M.; Korshun, V. A.; Shchepinov, M. S. (2008). "Reactive trityl derivatives: stabilised carbocation mass-tags for life sciences applications". Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry. 6 (24): 4593–5108. doi:10.1039/b810600b. PMID 19039369.
  15. ↑ "Would eating heavy atoms lengthen our lives?". New Scientist.
  16. ↑ https://doi.org/10.1080/10715762.2026.2707391