2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Unlocking the Secrets of the Cell and Oxygen Adaptation

7 Outubro 2019

• Physiology or Medicine
• Nobel Prize
• Cell
• Oxygen
• Adaptation

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza, for their discoveries of how cells adapt to changes in oxygen levels.

The discoveries of these three researchers revolutionized the understanding of one of the most fundamental processes of life: cellular adaptation to oxygen.

Oxygen is essential for life, but its availability varies constantly.

Our bodies need to adapt to these changes, whether during physical exercise, at high altitudes, or in situations of disease.

The research of Kaelin, Ratcliffe, and Semenza elucidated the molecular mechanism that allows cells to detect and respond to changes in oxygen levels, regulating the production of genes and proteins that control cellular adaptation.

In the early 1990s, Gregg Semenza, of Johns Hopkins University, was studying the gene that encodes erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells in the blood.

He discovered that the expression of this gene increased under low oxygen conditions and identified a protein complex that regulated this response, called hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF).

Simultaneously, William Kaelin, of Harvard University, was studying a rare disease called von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, which increases the risk of cancerous tumors.

Kaelin discovered that the VHL protein was essential for cell growth control and that mutations in this gene led to tumor development.

Later, Peter Ratcliffe, of Oxford University, demonstrated that the VHL protein regulated HIF activity.

Together, the works of Semenza, Kaelin, and Ratcliffe elucidated the fundamental molecular mechanism that controls the expression of genes in response to changes in oxygen levels.

HIF, when activated under low oxygen conditions, promotes the production of genes that increase oxygen uptake, red blood cell production, and the formation of new blood vessels.

These researchers’ discoveries have had a profound impact on medical science, opening doors to the development of new treatments for a variety of diseases, including cancer, anemia, heart disease, and neurological diseases.

The 2019 Nobel Prize recognizes the fundamental importance of the research of Kaelin, Ratcliffe, and Semenza, who unlocked the secrets of cellular adaptation to oxygen, a vital process for life and human health.