Nobel Prize 2021 in Medicine. “Discovery is an important tool in the fight against diseases of sensory disorders”

David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. They received the award for “discovering the temperature and touch receptors”. Experts at the Center for Cooperation and Dialogue of the University of Warsaw spoke about the importance of this award for medicine. – Disorder of the function of touch or temperature occurs in many chronic diseases. The discovery of the Nobel laureates will be useful in the treatment of various neuropathies – said Prof. Jacek Malejczyk from the Chair and Department of Histology and Embryology of the Medical University of Warsaw.

1. Awarded the Nobel Prize in the category of “medicine or physiology”
2. David Julius has identified a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat
3. Ardem Patapoutian discovered a new class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs
4. “The question of how nerve impulses are initiated so that we can feel the temperature and pressure has been resolved by this year’s winners” – stated in the justification of the award
5. «The importance of this discovery in medicine will be discounted over many years. We have diseases in neurology that are based on a complete lack of pain and temperature »- said Prof. Anna Kostera – Pruszczyk
6. More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

Nobel Prize 2021 – medicine. David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian winners

David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. They received the award for the “discovery of temperature and touch receptors”

«Our ability to feel warm, cold and touch is essential to survival and is the basis of our interaction with the world around us. In our daily lives, these sensations are obvious to us, but how are nerve impulses initiated so that we can feel temperature and pressure? This question has been resolved by this year’s Nobel laureates »- stated in the explanatory memorandum to this year’s award.

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The Swedish Academy of Sciences reported that David Julius used capsaicin, a pungent compound derived from chili peppers that causes a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the skin’s nerve endings that responds to heat. In turn, Ardem Patapoutian used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a new class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs.

«These groundbreaking discoveries have launched an intense research effort leading to a rapid increase in our understanding of how our nervous system perceives heat, cold and mechanical stimuli. The winners identified the critical missing links in our understanding of the complex interaction between our senses and the environment »added the Swedish Academy in the justification for the award.

Nobel Prize 2021. Discovery of temperature and touch receptors

“This year’s award relates to the senses that enable us to understand the world,” said Patrk Ernfors, introducing the winners. – Imagine a walk in a meadow. We feel the warmth of the sun, the chill of dew, the touch of the earth and a gust of wind. The senses allow us to feel both external and internal stimuli. They give us sensitivity to the external and internal world. Even without paying attention to it. Sensor information provides us with stability and balance, he added.

– Warmth and touch have been an area of ​​research for a very long time. As early as Descartes in the XNUMXth century he investigated the relationship between the skin and the brain, in the following centuries scientists discovered nerves registering changes in the environment – he said.

– David Julius and his colleagues found that a single gene is responsible for this. The team picked up the capsaicin receptor, the stimulus transmission channel. Julius noticed that heat opens a channel for ions, a temperature-sensitive channel. And it was perceived as something painful. Julius and Patapoutian independently studied the cold stimulus channel. And additional channels that contribute to temperature sensitivity. Different channels open at different temperatures, explained a member of the Nobel Prize Committee

– 72 different genes that could activate this mechanism were found. I studied cells for mechanical sensitivity. 72 genes were tested and finally the 72nd gene was examined, which was called PIezo 1. The second discovered gene was called Piezo 2. This is a new class of proteins, a channel triggered by a mechanical stimulus – said Ernfors

– The work of David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian discovered one of the secrets of nature, discovered the molecular basis of temperature and mechanical force sensation. This is the basis of perception and our perception. These channels play an important role in physiology, emphasized Patrk Ernfors.

Nobel Prize 2021. The discovery allows us to study the functions of our body

The verdict of the Nobel Committee was commented on by experts gathered at the Center for Cooperation and Dialogue of the University of Warsaw as part of the Nobel Week.

– Nobel Prize winners focused on exploring the senses. During a pandemic, people lost their taste and sense of smell, the focus was on discovering the receptors that make us feel taste and pain. It was painstaking work – he judged the award in the category “physiology or medicine” prof. Grzegorz Basak with The Chair and Clinic of Hematology, Oncology and Internal Diseases, UCK MUW

“This is a surprise, but a good surprise,” she assessed Prof. Anna Kostera – Pruszczyk. – It allows you to go back to the sources, to what is the humanistic element of each of us. Our feeling accompanies us from birth to death. Understanding these receptors will be an important tool in the fight against diseases of sensory disorders, such as diabetic neuropathy. The bow to basic sciences reminds us of how long is the road from research in the laboratory to methods that will help us, concluded Prof. neurology.

– The Nobel Prize Committee awarded a discovery that is not spectacular, but long-lasting and leads to the knowledge of essential elements and functions of our body – he said prof. Jacek Malejczyk with The Chair and Department of Histology and Embryology of the Medical University of Warsaw. – The senses are an inseparable element of life, losing them, we lose a lot. Our body depends on the sense of touch and the sense of temperature changes. They are stimuli that govern physiological responses. These receptors have been known for a long time, but what the Nobel Prize winners did was know how cells are able to receive such information – he explained.

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– The first receptor discovered by Julius is a receptor that responds to temperature changes, but at the same time such receptors have such properties that not only react to a specific factor, but also have chemical molecules that bind to them, achieving this effect. This molecule turned out to be capsaicin, which is what we like or not in the pepper, said Prof. Malejczyk

– In the case of the second touch receptor, these are the receptors that respond to deflection of the cell membrane. Changing the mechanics of the membrane causes these receptors to either close or open, he explained. “These receptors are just ion channels, they open and close, regulate the flow of ions inside the cell, and they have the effect of depolarizing the membrane, inducing a nerve impulse that goes to the brain and confidently creates a picture of the situation.

– Nobel Prize winners identified these receptors. For medicine, this will create opportunities to search for factors that could modify their action. Because the disturbance of the function of touch or temperature occurs in many chronic diseases. This will be useful in treating a variety of neuropathies. And this is a common ailment for many people – He said.

Nobel Prize 2021. Medicine will benefit from this for years to come

Prof. Anna Kostera – Pruszczyk emphasized that the significance of this discovery in medicine will be discounted for many years. – We have diseases in neurology which are based on a complete lack of pain and temperature. This leads to disastrous consequences. Such people are unaware that anything is a threat to them. We will use the possibility of influencing the receptors that are responsible for the sensation of heat and touch in many diseases. Also in diseases related to a bad lifestyle – she said.

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The neurologist also addressed the question of whether the reward for Julius and Patapoutian was a nod to the pandemic. – Everything that returns to the level of humanistic medicine is related to the problems that we became aware of during the pandemic. The pandemic made us realize the importance of human ties and discovered the importance of simple sensory experiences, she said. – In the past, a runny nose and loss of smell was something trivial. And now we have found that our senses allow us to function and carry very important information that translates into our behavior. We have a good knowledge of the nerve pathways along which information travels, but we did not know what is the most important initial element, the element that triggers this long trail – noted Prof. Kostera – Pruszczyk.

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