諾貝爾醫(yī)學(xué)獎獲得者，對細(xì)胞如何感知氧氣的深刻發(fā)現(xiàn)

諾貝爾醫(yī)學(xué)獎獲得者，對細(xì)胞如何感知氧氣的深刻發(fā)現(xiàn)

The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded Monday to three physician-scientists from the United States and Britain - William G. Kaelin Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza - "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability."

本周一，諾貝爾生理學(xué)或醫(yī)學(xué)獎頒給了來自美國和英國的三位醫(yī)學(xué)科學(xué)家，他們分別是小威廉G.卡林、彼得J.拉特克利夫和格雷格L.塞門扎，“因?yàn)樗麄儼l(fā)現(xiàn)了細(xì)胞感知和適應(yīng)氧氣供應(yīng)的方式。”

The discoveries by the trio illuminated what the Nobel Committee called "one of life's most essential adaptive processes," answering profound questions about how the body works and providing potential new therapeutic avenues to treat cancer and other diseases.

三人的發(fā)現(xiàn)闡明了諾貝爾委員會所稱的“生命最基本的適應(yīng)過程之一”，回答了關(guān)于身體如何工作的深刻問題，并為治療癌癥和其他疾病提供了潛在的新治療途徑。

諾貝爾獎官網(wǎng)

The three scientists, working independently, revealed the cascade of molecular events that allow cells to detect and respond to different levels of oxygen. That allows the human body to adapt to thinner air at high altitude by generating more red blood cells to carry oxygen.

這三位獨(dú)立工作的科學(xué)家揭示了一系列的分子事件，這些事件使細(xì)胞能夠檢測不同水平的氧氣并對其作出反應(yīng)。這使得人體能夠產(chǎn)生更多的紅細(xì)胞來輸送氧氣，從而適應(yīng)高空稀薄的空氣。

But it can also go awry in disease, providing new targets for treatment: Cancer cells exploit these molecular switches to thrive, for example, and increasing cells' tolerance for low oxygen could offer a way to treat heart attacks and strokes.

但它也可能在疾病中出錯，為治療提供了新的靶點(diǎn)：例如，癌細(xì)胞利用這些分子開關(guān)茁壯成長，而提高細(xì)胞對低氧的耐受性可能提供一種治療心臟病和中風(fēng)的方法。