The Americans William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and the Briton Peter Ratcliffe were honored for their discovery “on how the level of oxygen affects cellular metabolism and physiological functions”. Cell oxygenation plays a central role in the development of malignant tumors.
“The fundamental importance of oxygen has been known for centuries, but the process by which cells adapt to variations in oxygen level has long remained a mystery”, explained the Nobel Academy. in a press release.
This is why its members decided to reward the work of two Americans, William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza, and a Briton, Peter Ratcliffe. Monday, October 7, they received the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their research on the adaptation of cells to the variable supply of oxygen.
“The fundamental discoveries made by this year’s Nobel laureates reveal the mechanisms of one of the most essential processes in life”, underlines the Nobel Academy in its press release. “They laid the foundations of our knowledge of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological functions. Their findings also paved the way for new and promising strategies in the fight against anemia, cancer and many other diseases.”
The mechanism of oxygen control by cells
If we have known since the first half of the 20th century that certain specific cells are capable of analyzing the level of oxygen present in the blood, this new work has shown that this control of oxygen is in fact carried out by each of the cells that make up our body.
The researchers showed the involvement of two proteins that take part in this oxygen regulation: HIF-1α and ARNT, as well as the involvement of the VHL gene. As explained The HuffPostthe number of HIF-1α proteins increases in the event of lack of oxygen (altitude, physical exercise, anemia…), which increases the production of the hormone EPO, in charge of controlling the production of red blood cells, the cells blood that carries oxygen.
If bringing to light this mechanism is so essential, it is because the oxygenation of cells plays a central role in the development of malignant tumours: a significant supply of oxygen contributes to their growth, and therefore to the development of certain cancers in rapid growth. “Intense ongoing efforts in academic laboratories and pharmaceutical companies are now focused on developing drugs capable of interfering with different stages of a pathology either by activating or blocking the oxygen uptake mechanism,” explains the jury for the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
A ceremony scheduled for December 10
William Kaelin, researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland, Gregg Semenza, director of the vascular program at the Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and Peter Ratcliffe, director of clinical research at the Francis Crick Institute in London and the Target Discovery Institute in Oxford, will receive their medal and diploma on December 10 in Stockholm. They will also share the sum of 9 million crowns (about 830,000 euros) to continue their research.
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