He discovered the mechanism of autophagy, which allows our cells to renew themselves continuously by disposing and recycling useless parts. For this, cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Chosen from 273 candidate scientists this year, Ohsumi will receive a cash prize of 830,000 euros and a gold medal in Stockholm. The winners for physics will be named on Tuesday, and chemistry winners on Wednesday.
WHO IS YOSHINORI OHSUMI
Born in 1945 in Japan, in Fukuoka, after earning a PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1974, he spent three years in the United States, at Rockefeller University in New York, before returning to the University of Tokyo, and set up his research group in 1988. Since 2009 and professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
THE REASONS
“A well-deserved award for his pioneering studies on the phenomenon of autophagy”, Mario Chiariello , head of a laboratory of the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the CNR in Siena and of a laboratory of the Toscano Cancer Institute of Siena.
“This phenomenon is necessary for the correct physiological functioning of the cells of our organism but its regulation is involved, when altered, in numerous human pathologies, such as neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases and in diabetes ”, explained the expert.
WHAT IS AUTOPHAGY
“By autophagy we mean the ability of the cell to eliminate waste products that are produced by cellular metabolic activities and to eliminate cellular compartments that have aged and no longer function well”, explains Chiariello, adding that “the fundamental aspect of autophagy and that not only these no longer functioning structures are eliminated, but their basic constituents, therefore sugars, lipids, amino acids, are recycled by the cell in such a way that they are not lost. So it is not a real elimination but a recycling of the material available inside the cell ”.
Why this phenomenon is important
“It is a stress response mechanism. It is able to maintain the proper functioning of the cell. Because as in any other human activity, the large accumulation of waste materials without being eliminated entails considerable problems for the structure where it accumulates. And so it happens in the cell. Some neurodegenerative diseases are due precisely to the accumulation of non-functioning materials inside the cell which in the long run suffers from this material which is not eliminated ”, says Chiariello.
PATHOLOGIES INVOLVED
The studies of the Japanese biologist have also proved useful against tumors. “This being a stress response mechanism and also able to function in some other pathologies. For example, in tumors, cancer cells take advantage of this mechanism to increase their ability to survive the therapies we carry out. Therefore, the inhibition of autophagy at this time is thought of as a possible aid to the chemotherapy that is normally carried out in the case of tumors “.
THE IMPACT OF THE STUDIES
What impact these studies will have
“Many of these pathologies and mechanisms – replies Chiariello of the CNR – are currently being studied at a basic research level, but in the field of tumors I am dealing with, there are already numerous clinical trials for the use of drugs that can inhibit this process if used together with classic chemotherapy drugs “.
Here are the first results: “In many cases the use of these drugs has had very satisfactory and promising results which indicate that any inhibition of autophagy combined with classic chemotherapy can improve cancer therapy and reduce side effects”.
THE FUTURE CHALLENGES
Despite the first good responses to these drugs already available for autophagy, these studies have also highlighted something else: “They have shown the need to always identify new molecules that act in an ever more specific way on autophagy. So it is important to continue to investigate the functions of the genes, those that Ohsumi first identified and then those that came later in the research to identify new therapeutic targets for cancer but as for other diseases, ”noted the professor.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER
Announcement of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine https://t.co/MK6UzCA6HV
– The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 3, 2016
