Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology Yoshinori Osumi. The Japanese scientist was honored with it for his fundamental work, which explained to the world how autophagy occurs, a key process in the processing and recycling of cellular components.
Thanks to the work of Yoshinori Osumi, other scientists have received tools for studying autophagy not only in yeast, but also in other living things, including humans. In the course of further research, it was found that autophagy is a conservative process, and in humans it happens in much the same way. With the help of autophagy, the cells of our body receive the missing energy and building resources, mobilizing internal reserves. Autophagy is involved in the removal of damaged cellular structures, which is important for maintaining normal cell function. Also, this process is one of the mechanisms of programmed cell death. Autophagy disorders may underlie cancer and Parkinson's disease. In addition, autophagy is aimed at combating intracellular infectious agents, for example, the causative agent of tuberculosis. Perhaps thanks to the fact that yeast once revealed to us the secret of autophagy, we will receive a cure for these and other diseases.
Ecology of Cognition: Yoshinori Osumi - a specialist in cell biology from Japan - became a Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine.
Yoshinori Osumi, a cell biologist from Japan, has become a Nobel laureate in physiology and medicine.
The Nobel week has begun, during which the most honorable scientific awards will be distributed and the laureates in the field of medicine and physiology, physics, chemistry will be named.
The scientist who discovered the mechanism of preserving youth looks youthful himself.
The Laureate in Medicine and Physiology was named today - October 3, 2016. It was Yoshinori Ohsumi, a cell biologist from Tokyo University of Technology, who received an award for the discovery of autophagy mechanisms.
The first 2016 Nobel laureate has been named.
The Nobel Committee press release reads:
“Osumi's discoveries have led to a new paradigm in our understanding of how a cell processes its contents. His discoveries paved the way for understanding the fundamental importance of autophagy to a variety of physiological processes, such as adapting to hunger and responding to infection.
Autophagy is the process of disposing and recycling unnecessary parts of a cell - various "garbage" accumulated in it. The term that gave the name to the process is formed from two Greek words, which together translate as "self-criticism". Or "self-eating".
The mechanism of autophagy.
The fact that the phenomenon exists at all, scientists discovered back in the 60s of the last century. But they could not figure out the intricacies of the mechanism. Osumi did it in the 90s. Through his experiments, he also identified genes that are responsible for autophagy. And now, almost a quarter of a century later, the award found a hero who became the 39th scientist in history to be awarded the Nobel Prize alone.
Autophagy is inherent in living organisms, including ours. Thanks to her, cells get rid of unnecessary parts, and the body as a whole - from unnecessary cells.
Nature has prudently endowed cells with such an amazing and useful ability - to digest what "looks" superfluous or harmful. They act almost like we do. Only automatically. The "garbage" is packed into special bags - autophagosomes. Then they are transferred into containers - lysosomes. Where "all filth" is destroyed and digested. Processed products - a kind of "recyclable" - go to the production of fuel to feed the cell. They are used to make new building blocks used for cell renewal.
Phagosome formation.
Thanks to autophagy, the cell is cleansed of the infection that has got into it and of the formed toxins.
Autophagy starts to work most intensely when the body is under stress. For example, he is starving. In this case, the cell generates energy from its internal resources - from any accumulated debris. And including - from pathogenic bacteria.
The open laureate testifies: to starve, and sometimes fasting is still useful - the body is really cleansed. Confirmed by the Nobel Committee.
As Osumi's colleagues assure, autophagy protects the body from premature aging. Maybe even rejuvenates due to the fact that it creates new cells, removes defective proteins and damaged intracellular elements from the body, maintaining it in good condition.
And disturbances in the processes of autophagy lead to Parkinson's disease, diabetes and even cancer. Realizing this, doctors are already creating new drugs that can correct violations and, therefore, cure.
However ... It seems that in order to prevent it, sometimes it is worth starving, driving the body into a wellness, as it turns out now, stress.
Yoshinori Osumi was born in 1945. He will receive his prize of 8 million SEK - just over USD 950 thousand - along with other award-winning scholars in Stockholm on December 10.
Yoshinori Osumi (born 1945) is a Japanese scientist, microbiologist, professor, doctor of sciences, lecturer at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, a member of the European Organization for Molecular Biology. Since the 80s. XX century, studied exclusively the processes of autophagy.
Nobel laureate
October 3, 2016. Stockholm. The Nobel Committee announces the winner of the Prize in Physiology and Medicine. It becomes Yoshinori Osumi, a Japanese microbiologist. Because he was able to describe in detail the mechanism of autophagy of cells in living organisms.
Yoshinori Osumi proved that our body is able to cleanse itself of toxins and even become younger after fasting. For this incredible discovery in 2016, a 71-year-old Japanese scientist received the Nobel Prize in the amount of $ 950,000.
What is Autophagy
What did scientists know before Yoshinori Osumi's discovery?
This word was invented in 1963 by Christian de Duve, a scientist who himself won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1974 for his discovery lysosomes.
The word "autophagy" comes from the Greek - "auto" (himself) and "phagin" (to eat). This is the process by which cells destroy and recycle their waste components. (organelles, proteins and cell membranes). That is, "eating" their waste parts.
Functions of lysosomes
It was clear that cells had to do more than just grow. From time to time they have to decompose and remove some unnecessary, their parts. But before that, they must be destroyed. It was found that lysosomes play the role of "scavengers" of the cell. Lysosomes:
As a result of painstaking work, biologists have discovered autophagosomes- "trucks" for transporting the remains of the cell to the lysosomes.
It happens like this: The unnecessary component is surrounded by a special membrane. As a result, we get a bubble with an organoid (or part of it) inside (vacuole).
This vesicle approaches the lysosome and merges with it. There, the "garbage" fragment of the cell is split into simple components. This is done by special enzymes. But they knew about it back in 60 ΧΧ century. In the 9th grade, students study this material in biology.
Yes, in the 60s, scientists made the discovery that autophagy starts from time to time, but why, when exactly, for what purpose, and what effect does this have on the functioning of the body as a whole? Before Yoshinori Osumi, no one found out.
Opening of Yoshinori Osumi
Don't think. that the discovery was easy and simple. Back in the 80s, Yoshinori Osumi began to practice autophagy. In the early 90s I switched to yeast instead of studying human cells. It turned out that yeast cells are very similar to human cells. From the point of view of genetics, it was easier to work with them.
Empirically, Osumi was able to prove that autophagy exists in yeast. The yeast was in different conditions. As a result, the result was also different:
Some cells were getting enough food, so they didn't change too much. Others were on starvation rations. Therefore, in their vacuoles, cell fragments surrounded by membranes quickly accumulated. These were autophagosomes.
It became clear that cell fragments accumulate very quickly in “hungry” cells. As a result, the assumption was confirmed that autophagy helps the cell to reuse existing resources. Due to the lack of an influx of new ones (hunger).
It turned out that the human genes responsible for autophagy are the same as those of yeast. As a result, Osumi showed that a similar process occurs in human cells. As a result, all the genes that we need for this process to go on were identified.
He identified the main genes involved in autophagy. Shown how the proteins that encode these genes combine to create the autophagy membrane.
By the way, when there is a shortage of food, the first thing to do is to undergo autophagy.This is one of the main reasons why fasting does not lead to instant and large loss of fat.
The importance of the discovery is that the most important cellular process is described at the genetic level. According to experts, this discovery has provided new opportunities for geneticists and microbiologists in the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, and many other diseases.
The cellular process of autophagy
The body is under stress (hunger). Therefore, for their survival, cells begin to collect their waste particles. After that, their components are placed in autophagosomes (small trucks). The autophagosomes deliver them to the lysosomes (processing plant). There, enzymes break down and digest everything.
The obtained good processed products are reused by the cells to obtain the necessary energy, their own rejuvenation and regeneration, and internal nutrition. That is, new, healthy cells are created from waste. Autophagy is the only process by which the cell is renewed "in a big way". We cannot survive without him.
Thanks to autophagy, the cell is able to cope with the infection that has got into it, viruses and bacteria, defective proteins, remove toxins and rejuvenate. Because for autophagy, it doesn't matter which proteins to destroy - in the cell itself or outside it.
Autophagy and fasting
Unexpectedly for his research, Osumi also proved the benefits of fasting. In addition, the Nobel Committee has also confirmed that fasting for one day actually leads to excellent results.
The stress caused by short-term hunger forces cells to fight for survival and renewal. Based on these facts, the entire elite rushed into starvation ,. By the way, stress is caused and
So it is, eating ourselves! But the prize was not given for fasting, but for describing the mechanisms of autophagy. Short-term hunger (one day of fasting) makes this mechanism work. It's just that these two concepts do not work one without the other.
Hunger stimulates autophagy. It is believed that a person receives:
- high life expectancy;
- slowing down the aging process;
- strong immunity, repelling the attacks of any, even the most dangerous bacteria and viruses;
- excellent health;
- physical activity and high intellectual abilities;
- uninterrupted operation of all organs and systems.
Of course, a balance must be struck here as well. Insufficient or too intense autophagy can hurt you.
Intermittent fasting 16/8
I must say that fasting, as a remedy, has been known for a long time. He is mentioned 74 times in the Bible! There are a lot of books about the miracle of fasting. To trigger the autophagy mechanism, you need a short-term fast. For example, 16/8 fasting is popular. What does it mean?
This means that you can eat for 8 hours, but not for 16 hours. Except for water. For example, you had breakfast at 8 am, the last meal should be no later than 4 pm. The food window closed until 8 am. For those who want to lose weight, it is generally comfortable. At least rest between meals should be at least 12 hours.
Fasting for three days will help rejuvenate your immune system
This is an interesting conclusion made by a group of scientists from the University of California. They found out in the course of a study that, with a short-term fast for three days, a person's immune system is renewed.
As a result, the restoration of our defense system is due to the increased division of stem cells that occurs during fasting, when the body is under stress.
Also, during short-term fasting, there is a decrease in the concentration of a certain enzyme that is responsible for aging, and a certain hormone associated with the development of cancerous tumors.
