Nobel Prize in Medicine for Decryption of the Autophagy Mechanism

Japanese receives Nobel Prize for the study of autophagy
At the beginning of this year's Nobel Prize awards, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine was announced. The Japanese Yoshinori Ohsumi received the internationally acclaimed award for deciphering the mechanism of so-called autophagy, "a fundamental process for breaking down and recycling cell components," according to the announcement by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Out of 273 nominated scientists, the Japanese fell in with "the discovery that has led to a new paradigm in understanding how the cell reuses its contents," reports the Karolinska Institute. Ohsumi's discoveries opened the way to understanding the fundamental importance of autophagy in many physiological processes, such as adjusting to hunger or responding to an infection, the rationale for the award ceremony.

This year, the Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to the Japanese Yoshinori Ohsumi for research into autopphagia. (Image: Anton Gvozdikov / fotolia.com)

Autophagy with many important functions
Thanks to the basic research of the Japanese scientist and the work of other researchers, "we now know that autophagy plays an important physiological role when cell components need to be broken down and recycled," reports the Karolinska Institute. Autophagy plays a key role in the cellular response to hunger and other types of stress. After infection, autophagy helps to eliminate intracellular invading bacteria and viruses. Autophagy also contributes to the development of the embryo and cell differentiation. In addition, it performs an important quality control function in the organism by eliminating damaged proteins and organelles, reports the Karolinska Institute.

Disturbed autohphagia involved in various diseases
Disturbed autophagy, according to the Karolinska Institute, is associated with conditions such as Parkinson's or type 2 diabetes and is also associated with cancer. "Autophagy has been known for more than 50 years, but its fundamental importance in physiology and medicine became known only after the paradigm shift by Yoshinori Ohsumi in the 1990s," said the Karolinska Institute. Next Nobel Prizes in other categories will be announced over the coming week. (Fp)