NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSIOLOGY/MEDICINE, 2021

Recently, two United States-based scientists, David Julius and ArdemPatapoutian, have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.
They have focused their work on the field of somatosensation, that is the ability of specialised organs such as eyes, ears and skin to see, hear and feel.

Important points:

David Julius:

He discovered TRPV1, a heat-sensing receptor.
His findings on the skin’s sense of temperature was based on how certain cells react to capsaicin, the molecule that makes chili peppers spicy, by simulating a false sensation of heat.

ArdemPatapoutian:

He discovered two mechanosensitive ion channels known as the Piezo channels.
The Piezo1 is named after the Greek word for pressure, ‘píesi’.
He is credited for finding the cellular mechanism and the underlying gene that translates a mechanical force on our skin into an electric nerve signal.

Significance:

The findings have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us.
This knowledge is being used to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions, including chronic pain.
Somatosensation is a collective term for the sensations of touch, temperature, body position, and pain recognized through neural receptors in the skin and certain internal organs.
It includes processes such as” mechanoreception, thermoreception, proprioception.
Mechanosensitive channels are fascinating proteins, being able to serve both as sensors and effectors.
Embedded in membranes, they convert mechanical stimuli such as in-plane membrane tension and curvature into electrical or biochemical signals, leading to regulation of a wide repertoire of cellular processes allowing adaptive response.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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