Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

This day in history, October 18: James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins honored with Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for…

Ten years ago: Fifty wild animals were released by the owner of a Zanesville, Ohio, farm, Terry Thompson, who then took his own life; authorities killed 48 of the creatures, while the remaining two were presumed eaten by other animals. Republican presidential candidates laced into each other in a debate in Las Vegas; Mitt Romney emerged as still the person to beat, even as he was called out on the issues of illegal immigration, health care and jobs. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit (gee-LAHD shah-LEET) emerged from five years in captivity as Hamas militants handed him over to Egyptian mediators in an exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

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This day in history, October 18: James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins honored with Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for...

Physiology

FAIR Institute Introduces FAIR-CAM to Help Cybersecurity Teams Assess Effectiveness of Risk Management Controls to Make More Cost-Effective Business…

An extension of the FAIR model, FAIR Controls Analytics Model (FAIR-CAM), allows analysts to map controls to risk more easily and reliably

RESTON, Va., Oct. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The FAIR Institute, a non-profit professional organization dedicated to advancing the discipline of measuring and managing information risk, has launched its FAIR Control Analytics Model (FAIR-CAM), making cyber risk quantification even more useful as a decision support tool. It provides the means to map and account for risk management controls when performing a FAIR analysis, enabling analysts to more accurately measure the risk-reduction value of controls in terms that are accessible to the business.

While most control assessment practices simply express control conditions as ordinal scores (1 through 5, or red, yellow, green), these values are abstract and subjective, as they arent actual units of measurement, like percentages, time, units of money, etc. As a result, control measurements tend to be less reliable, making it difficult for cybersecurity teams to translate control improvements into risk reduction. The FAIR-CAM model addresses this critical knowledge gap.

The FAIR (Factor Analysis of Information Risk) cyber risk model has already emerged as the premier Value at Risk model for cybersecurity and operational risk. To add to this recognized industry standard, the FAIR-CAM controls model will provide these crucial units of measurement for each control function, which means cybersecurity teams can empirically measure the efficacy of controls. And because the FAIR-CAM model overlays its control functions on top of the FAIR model, analysts will be able to determine how much less risk will exist as controls improve (or vice versa).

Whereas FAIR quantifies the frequency and magnitude (in dollar terms) of cyber loss events, the FAIR-CAM model quantifies the effectiveness of controls for reducing that frequency and magnitude. Combining the two enables risk and security organizations to measure the risk reduction value of controls and controls systems more easily and reliably.

Story continues

Existing control frameworks or risk scores are lists of individual controls or control objectives. However, none of these frameworks formally define the many ways in which controls directly or indirectly affect risk, explained Jack Jones, president, FAIR Institute. A useful analogy is the difference between the anatomy of a human body, and its physiology. Anatomy is a list of the parts (bones, muscles, nerves, organs, etc.), while physiology is a description of how those parts function both individually and as a system.

"Existing frameworks provide a useful anatomy for cybersecurity controls, and the FAIR-CAM model describes control physiology. It provides the missing link between todays control frameworks and risk measurement. This enables reliable measurement of control efficacy and value, so that organizations make better use of their limited resources to manage cybersecurity and risk.

The FAIR-CAM controls model maps to all the popular controls frameworks, such as NIST, ISO, and CIS, and will help security teams get more value from frameworks. Rather than conducting simple gap analysis, teams can make well-informed choices among the controls recommended by the frameworks, based on quantifiable risk reduction.

The FAIR-CAM controls model goes a long way in connecting the dots within the cyber risk equation. In particular, it will help organizations like Highmark Health take a more practical approach to operationalize cyber risk management by mapping controls to risks. This will enable us to more confidently evaluate controls to determine which ones to grow, sustain or sunset, said Omar Khawaja, CISO, Highmark Health.

About the FAIR InstituteThe FAIR Institute is an expert, non-profit organization led by information risk officers, CISOs and business executives, created to develop and share standard risk management practices based on FAIR. Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) is the only international standard analytics model for information security and operational risk. FAIR helps organizations quantify and manage risk from the business perspective and enables cost-effective decision-making. To learn more and get involved visit: http://www.fairinstitute.org.

FAIR Institute education partners include Arizona State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Center for Applied Cyber Education, Ferris State University, George Mason University, Harvard University, Macquarie University, Pepperdine, San Jose State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Tampa, University of Toronto, Virginia Tech, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Media Contact:

Cathy Morley FosterEskenzi PRcathy@eskenzipr.com925.708.7893

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FAIR Institute Introduces FAIR-CAM to Help Cybersecurity Teams Assess Effectiveness of Risk Management Controls to Make More Cost-Effective Business...

Physiology

GPR39 as a Therapeutic Target in Vascular Cognitive Impairment Dementia – The University of Arizona Health Sciences |

Please join Dr. Nabil Alkayed, Professor of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Neurology, Neurological Surgery, Cardiovascular Medicine and Physiology & Pharmacology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) for a presentation over breakfast.

Dr. Alkayeds presentation will review human and experimental evidence for the role of eicosanoid signaling in aging-related cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), specifically focusing on the role of P450 eicosanoids and the newly discovered G protein-coupled receptor 39 (GPR39). Evidence supporting the role of GPR39 in VCID in humans and animal models sets the stage for therapeutic development and other clinical applications.

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GPR39 as a Therapeutic Target in Vascular Cognitive Impairment Dementia - The University of Arizona Health Sciences |

Physiology

Does Taking a Hot Bath Really Have the Same Health Benefits as Exercising? – Livestrong

Hot baths offer some of the same benefits as exercise, but they should not replace your workouts.

Image Credit: PRImageFactory/iStock/GettyImages

A rise in body temperature, sweat and heart rate these physical responses are the most common signs of a strenuous aerobic workout. But these same physiological reactions are also strikingly similar to the ones you experience soaking in a hot bath.

That's what the authors of a December 2020 review published in the Journal of Applied Physiology concluded. They also discovered that regular hot baths could offer many of the same health benefits as moderate-intensity exercise.

In fact, one small study in the review found that two months of cycling (three times a week for 30 minutes) compared to the same number of time-matched warm baths produced comparable improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular health in young sedentary male adults.

But does that really mean you can skip your spin class for some time in the tub and still reap the same benefits? Here, John Higgins, MD, a sports cardiologist with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, assesses the benefits of a hot bath and their limits versus exercise.

When compared to moderate-intensity exercise, regular hot baths have many of the same health pluses.

1. They Improve Blood Flow and Blood Pressure

It's well documented that exercise has protective effects on vascular health. But research also points to similar advantages of hot baths.

For example, a June 2016 study in The Journal of Physiology found that eight weeks of regular hot baths helped reduce arterial stiffness and reduced blood pressure in young sedentary adults.

"Hot baths increase blood flow not only to skin but also to other vital organs," Dr. Higgins says. This boost in blood flow promotes the production of more nitric oxide, which keeps the blood vessel walls smooth and prevents inflammation and plaque build-up, he explains.

The increased dilation of blood vessels also leads to a lowering in blood pressure, Dr. Higgins adds.

2. They Increase Your Heart Rate

Just like a brisk jog, stepping into a hot bath will raise your heart rate.

Here's why: A steamy bath causes the blood vessels to dilate and lowers your blood pressure. Consequently, "your heart rate speeds up to compensate," Dr. Higgins says.

Indeed, the same review in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that passive heating (such as taking a hot bath) can increase heart rate between 20 to 40 beats per minute. Still, it's worth noting that this effect is substantially milder compared to the rise that occurs during moderate-intensity exercise.

3. They May Help Reduce Inflammation

Exercise can help curb chronic low-grade inflammation which drives many diseases and there's some evidence that regular hot baths can have a similar benefit.

Hot bathing can decrease inflammatory markers, which may reduce your risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality by as much as 25 percent, Dr. Higgins says. But the long-term effects of hot baths on inflammation aren't certain and more research is needed.

4. They Promote Better Blood Sugar Levels

Research has found that just three weeks of daily hot bathing can improve blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes, Dr. Higgins says.

For instance, a July 2015 study in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care found that heat therapy, such as using a sauna or hot tub, shows some promise in treating type 2 diabetes.

The extreme heat can cause your blood vessels to dilate, which makes your body absorb insulin more quickly and as a result, lower blood sugar levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

5. They Can Help Boost Mood

Anyone who's ever experienced a runner's high or the feel-good rush of post-workout endorphins can confirm exercise can boost your mood.

Apparently, so can a hot soak. Warm baths may reduce stress hormones and help balance serotonin levels, which play a role in regulating mood, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

In addition, some research shows that bathing in hot water (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for a half-hour can help decrease depression symptoms, per the Cleveland Clinic.

While hot baths may mimic some of the health benefits of exercise, there are certain things they simply can't do. Here are a few:

1. They Dont Build Muscle, Strength or Bone Density

Exercise puts force on a muscle, leading to muscle damage and subsequent repair and growth (as well as increased bone density), Dr. Higgins says.

But you can't build lean muscle and sturdy bones or make strength gains by relaxing in a hot bath. "To build and strengthen muscles, you have to use them," Dr. Higgins says.

2. They Dont Enhance Endurance

Though a hot bath can raise heart rate temporarily, it can't help you sustain physical activity for an extended period. In other words, it won't support your stamina.

To improve your endurance, you must increase the distance, time or difficulty of an exercise, and this does not happen with a hot bath, Dr. Higgins says.

3. They Dont Support Weight Loss

While working out can be part of a healthy weight loss (or weight management) strategy, a steamy soak in the tub won't foster fat loss or lower your BMI.

Case in point: The same Journal of Applied Physiology review found that eight weeks of moderate-intensity cycling reduced body weight whereas hot baths did not. That may be because aerobic exercise burns more than 10 times the calories as passive heating.

When to Take a Hot Bath for the Best Benefits

The best time to reap the benefits of a hot bath is right after a workout, Dr. Higgins says. Thirty minutes in the tub can soothe sore muscles and support muscle recovery and growth.

That's because hot baths improve blood flow, which helps repair and rebuild muscle fibers and reduce inflammation, Dr. Higgins says.

For an even greater bang for your bath buck, add Epsom salts, which can help loosen muscles and alleviate pain, per the Cleveland Clinic. Three hundred grams should do the trick.

For the optimal hot bath benefits, aim to take a hot bath four times weekly and soak for 30 to 60 minutes, Dr. Higgins says.

While there are many benefits of taking a hot bath, they can also dry out your skin. To avoid this, dont soak in steamy water every day. And try these tips:

So, Can Hot Baths Replace Exercise?

"The best way to think about a hot bath is (pardon the pun) like a watered-down version of exercise," Dr. Higgins says. With a hot bath, you get some of the vascular benefits of exercise, but not the major cardiorespiratory or cardiometabolic gains of moving your body.

So, if you only have 30 minutes in your schedule, going for a jog or taking an aerobics class will always be better than 30 minutes of lying in a hot tub, Dr. Higgins says.

In other words, hot baths should not be used as a substitute for exercise but rather as a complement to your regular workout regimen.

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Does Taking a Hot Bath Really Have the Same Health Benefits as Exercising? - Livestrong

Physiology

Ice baths: UCLan researchers find out if we’re doing it all wrong – Lancashire Post

The study, led by UCLan in Preston and published in the scientific journal Sports Sciences for Health, invited athletes, coaches and support practitioners to provide anonymous feedback

about their current cold-water immersion (CWI) protocols.

Out of the 111 respondents, most were involved in elite sport at international, national and club level, with many having used CWI previously and 78 percent finding it beneficial for

The study found that more than half of the respondents used a water temperature outside of the recommended range of 9C to 15C and only 14 per cent spent the recommended duration

of 10 to 15 minutes in the water.

The most popular immersion time was only two and a half to five minutes long with many coaches setting a temperature of below 5C and athletes having no set temperature target.

Dr Robert Allan, lecturer in human physiology at UCLan and lead author on the research paper, said: Whilst many athletes, coaches and support practitioners are aware of the many

physiological benefits associated with post-exercise CWI, such as reductions in tissue temperature, alterations in blood flow and pain relief benefits, there seems a discordance between

the knowledge of the benefits and understanding of the mechanisms controlling them.

The protocol used during cold-water immersion is important; with the temperature of water, duration and depth of immersion important variables to consider.

Ultimately short durations will be unable to illicit sufficient reductions to either core or muscle temperatures and have any subsequent impact on physiological mechanisms.

In many cases, what is being used in practice will not be stimulating the benefits trying to be achieved.

Dr James Malone, senior lecturer in coaching science at Liverpool Hope University, was also involved in the study.

He said: This study highlights some of the potential gaps that can occur between what the science is telling us and what actually happens in practice.

Myself and Dr Allan are part of a five-person team currently producing an expert statement on the use of cooling therapies for exercise recovery on behalf of the British Association of

Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). We believe that this work will help to better educate the wider audience around the best use of cooling therapies, such as cold-water immersion, to

help narrow the gap between research and practice.

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Ice baths: UCLan researchers find out if we're doing it all wrong - Lancashire Post

Physiology

Researchers identify a common gene variant that drives the efficiency and outcome of dialysis – News-Medical.Net

Every day, the human kidneys clean about 1,500 liters of blood by producing approximately 12 liters of urine. Thereby, the body gets rid of excess water and toxic waste products of the metabolism or also drugs and maintains the balance of water and minerals in the tissues.

While waiting for kidney transplantation, patients with chronic kidney failure must be treated regularly with dialysis that cleanses the body of fluid and deleterious substances. Peritoneal dialysis, which can be done at home with only minimal medical and technical support, is gaining popularity across the world. Today, kidney failure is a growing medical concern, concerning up to 10% of individuals globally.

An international research team led by the University of Zurich (UZH) has now identified a common variant in the AQP1 gene coding for the water channel called Aquaporin-1 that has a significant effect on treatment efficacy and patient survival on dialysis.

The identification of this common genetic factor regulating the expression of Aquaporin-1, which is associated with a higher risk of death and technique failure, provides a big step for precision medicine in dialysis. The gene variant is driving the outcome of peritoneal dialysis and the choice of treatment modalities, which is very important for the care and outcome of patients with kidney failure."

Olivier Devuyst, Study Last Author and Coordinator, Department of Physiology, University of Zurich

The efficiency of dialysis depends on how well it removes excess of water, restores normal body fluid status, and clears waste substances. Peritoneal dialysis is based on osmosis: the introduction of an osmotic solution in the peritoneal cavity drives water transport preferentially through the Aquaporin-1 channels, which constitute the body's plumbing system. Previous studies by Devuyst' group showed that Aquaporin-1 is abundant in endothelial cells lining capillaries of the peritoneum, where it mediates fast osmotic water transport across cell membranes and up to half of the water removal during dialysis, a process named ultrafiltration.

To test which effects gene variants for Aquaporin-1 have on ultrafiltration and outcome in dialyses, the researchers followed 1,851 patients of diverse ethnic origins for several years and analyzed their data. Using a variety of techniques ranging from human genetics to mouse models, modeling and cellular studies, the team was able to show that patients carrying a common variant in the Aquaporin-1 gene have a lower level of this protein in their tissues.

Hence, their basic capacity to move water across cell membranes is decreased. Devuyst adds: "Our research shows that relatively common genetic variants the AQP1 variant is detected in about 30% of the population may affect fundamental processes, but are only exposed in special circumstances like the dialysis here".

Carrying the Aquaporin-1 variant is deleterious in patients treated by peritoneal dialysis, because the lower expression of water channels impairs a full removal of water by the treatment. This situation causes an overload of water and an increased risk of death due to various complications. In fact, peritoneal dialysis patients carrying the variant have a 70% higher risk to die or to be transferred to hemodialysis in hospitals compared to patients not carrying the defective gene. The team consisting of researchers and clinicians from six different countries present a way to circumvent this problem: "It is possible to overcome the genetic defect by using specific osmotic solutions that attract water independently of aquaporins so-called colloid osmotic agents instead of glucose," says Olivier Devuyst.

Source:

Journal reference:

Morelle, J., et al. (2021) AQP1 Promoter Variant, Water Transport, and Outcomes in Peritoneal Dialysis. New England Journal of Medicine. doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2034279.

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Researchers identify a common gene variant that drives the efficiency and outcome of dialysis - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

World Space Week was held from 4 to 10 October – India Education Diary

PetrSU scientists are summing up the results of their scientific research in the field of space physiology.Since 2015, the Department of Human and Animal Physiology, Pathophysiology, Histology of the Medical Institute of PetrSU has been conducting research to study the effect of ground-based simulated weightlessness on the body of an elderly person suffering from Parkinsons disease.

This year there were 3 articles in the journal Human Physiology and 2 articles in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, 3 articles are under review or ready for submission.

It should be said that, judging by the statistics of readings and downloads, the interest in these articles is huge, especially in Germany, Belgium, the USA and the PRC. We attribute this to recent flights to suborbital space by two private spaceships Jeff Bazos on Blue Origin and Richard Branson on VVS Unit with a crew of elderly tourists.

As a prospect, we reported in our articles that soon flights of older people into suborbital space will be a reality, but there is little research on the physiology of an elderly person in space, and on a person with neurodegenerative diseases, there are no at all. Our studies have shown that a short-term state of weightlessness, with careful selection of applicants, does not have negative consequences for the cardiovascular system, even for a patient with parkinsonism. In some respects, this flight is even useful. In fact, with our work, we have closed a large gap in space physiology and the rationale for space tourism. The recent arrival on the ISS of a team to shoot the first space movie only confirms this trend.

said medical scientists, professors A.Yu. Meigal and L.I. Gerasimova-Meigal.

In April of this year, the Human in Space conference was held, in May the traditional conference of the International Society of Gravitational Physiology (ISGP42), which were dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the first manned flight into space. The members of this organization are professors. The Road to Space conference has just been held.

The last event is worth noting, since this conference is held within the framework of the World Space Week (October 4-10), which this year was dedicated to women in astronautics, as well as within the framework of the Space Science Days held under the auspices of Roscosmos in honor of the launch of the first Earth satellite and the Russian Year of Science and Technology. In general, there are many significant events.

We spoke at all conferences with the scientific results of many years of research, talking about the prospects for education in the field of space medicine. In the future, the department will continue to cooperate with the Center for Aerospace Medicine and Technologies in Moscow on the use of virtual reality methods to assess the reaction rate in zero gravity, the introduction of such new physiological research methods as the assessment of cerebral circulation during immersion, the phenomenon of muscle tone in conditions of model zero gravity, investigation of the reactions of interception of a moving target. We will also continue our educational and educational mission, because it is more interesting to study with space.

A simple example. Physiology textbooks pay very little attention to the fact that all our physiological functions (and their pathophysiological changes) occur under conditions of gravity and are essentially antigravitational. This applies to movement, orientation in space, the usual upright standing and holding the posture, the movement of blood, especially venous blood, the ratio of ventilation and perfusion in the lungs. In general, it makes you be a physicist, biophysicist, mechanic and more and more often look into the textbook of elementary physics.

The project to immerse patients with parkinsonism in a state of ground zero gravity has become a real catalyst for cooperation, in which more and more colleagues from various institutes of PetrSU are involved,

told the scientists of PetrSU L.I. Gerasimova-Meigal and A.Yu. Meigal.

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World Space Week was held from 4 to 10 October - India Education Diary

Physiology

Dr. Ardem Patapoutian awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Armenian Weekly

(Photo: Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs)

Lebanese-Armenian scientist Ardem Patapoutian is one of the two winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for touch, heat and bodily movement.

Dr. Patapoutian, a professor of neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, discovered a new class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs.

He was honored alongside David Julius, a UC San Francisco professor of physiology, who identified a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat.

Our ability to sense heat, cold and touch is essential for survival and underpins our interaction with the world around us, the Nobel Assembly wrote in a statement announcing the accolades. The laureates identified critical missing links in our understanding of the complex interplay between our senses and the environment.

Dr. Julius and his team used a key ingredient of chili peppers to identify the gene that makes skin cells capsaicin sensitive. This discovery was a major breakthrough that led the way for scientists to find additional temperature-sensing receptors.

Dr. Patapoutian and his team used a micropipette to poke individual cells and find the sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli such as touch and pressure. In further research, these sensory channels have been shown to regulate physiological processes including blood pressure, respiration and urinary bladder control.

In 1944, Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the different types of sensory nerve fibers that react to distinct stimuli, such as painful touch. While scientists have since proven that people perceive changes in their surroundings through highly specialized neurons, a key question long remained unanswered: how are temperature and mechanical stimuli converted into electrical impulses in the nervous system?

This really unlocks one of the secrets of nature, secretary-general of the Nobel Assembly Thomas Perlmann said in announcing the winners. Its actually something that is crucial for our survival, so its a very important and profound discovery.

The pairs findings also have astonishing medical implications, as they are already being used to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions, such as chronic back pain, arthritis and migraines.

Dr. Patapoutian said that his phone was on do not disturb when he received the call from Perlmann, who eventually reached his 92-year-old fathers landline. He then called his son at around 2:30AM California time to deliver the news.

Shortly after, the committee released a photo of a delighted Dr. Patapoutian watching the Nobel Prize press conference from his bed with his son Luca: A day to be thankful, tweeted Dr. Patapoutian. This country gave me a chance with a great education and support for basic research.

Dr. Patapoutian, who was born to an Armenian family in Beirut, Lebanon in 1967, came to the United States in 1986. I fell in love with doing basic research. That changed the trajectory of my career, he said in an interview with the New York Times. In Lebanon, I didnt even know about scientists as a career.

The Nobel Prize laureates will each receive a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.14 million).

Lillian Avedian is a staff writer for the Armenian Weekly. Her writing has also been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Hetq and the Daily Californian. She is pursuing masters degrees in Journalism and Near Eastern Studies at New York University. A human rights journalist and feminist poet, Lillian's first poetry collection Journey to Tatev was released with Girls on Key Press in spring of 2021.

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Dr. Ardem Patapoutian awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Armenian Weekly

Physiology

The Nobel Prize in Medicine recognized research on temperature and touch. – The New York Times

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly on Monday to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, two scientists who independently discovered key mechanisms of how people sense heat, cold, touch and their own bodily movements.

Dr. Julius, a professor of physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, used a key ingredient in hot chili peppers to identify a protein in nerve cells that responds to uncomfortably hot temperatures.

Dr. Patapoutian, a molecular biologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif., led a team that, by poking individual cells with a tiny pipette, hit upon a receptor that responds to pressure, touch and the positioning of body parts.

After Dr. Juliuss pivotal discovery of a heat-sensing protein in 1997, pharmaceutical companies poured billions of dollars into looking for nonopioid drugs that could dull pain by targeting the receptors. But while research is ongoing, the related treatments have so far run into huge obstacles, scientists said, and interest from drug makers has largely dried up.

Pain and pressure were among the last frontiers of scientists efforts to describe the molecular basis for sensations. The 2004 Nobel Prize in Medicine was given to work clarifying how smell worked. As far back as 1967, the prize was awarded to scientists studying vision.

But unlike smell and sight, the perceptions of pain or touch are not located in an isolated part of the body, and scientists did not even know what molecules to look for. Its been the last main sensory system to fall to molecular analysis, Dr. Julius said at an online briefing on Monday.

The biggest hurdle in Dr. Juliuss work was how to comb through a library of millions of DNA fragments encoding different proteins in the sensory neurons to find the one that reacts to capsaicin, the key component in chili peppers. The solution was to introduce those genes into cells that do not normally respond to capsaicin until one was discovered that made the cells capable of reacting.

In search of the molecular basis for touch, Dr. Patapoutian, too, had to sift through a number of possible genes. One by one, he and his collaborators inactivated genes until they identified the single one that, when disabled, made the cells insensitive to the poke of a tiny pipette.

Dr. Patapoutian said that he gravitated to studying the sense of touch and pain because those systems remained so mysterious. When you find a field thats not well understood, he said, its a great opportunity to dig in.

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The Nobel Prize in Medicine recognized research on temperature and touch. - The New York Times

Physiology

Explained | The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – The Hindu

Does the knowledge of nerve impulses which can perceive temperature and pressure when initiated help to treat pain?

The story so far: The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to David Julius, 66, at the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, 54, at Scripps Research, La Jolla, California, for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.

Editorial | Sensing heat: On 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

What is the significance of their work?

The two researchers discovered the molecular mechanism by which our body senses temperature and touch. Being able to do this opens the field for a lot of practical chemistry whereby individual cells and pathways can be tweaked, suppressed or activated to quell pain or sensation. How the body senses external stimuli is among the oldest excursions of natural philosophy. Entire schools of philosophy were based on speculating how the senses influenced the nature of the reality we perceive. Only when physiology developed as an independent discipline and anatomy came into its own did it become widely accepted that specific sensations were the result of different categories of nerves getting stimulated. Thus, a caress or a punch induces cells in our bodies to react differently and convert into specific patterns of electrical stimulation that is then conveyed via the nerves to the central nervous system. Since the Nobel Prizes came to be, at least three of them were for establishing key principles for how sensations travelled along skin and muscle sensory nerve fibres. Much like the length, thickness, material and incident force on their strings elicit specific tones out of a guitar or a piano, there are specific nerve fibre types that in tandem create a response to touch, heat and proprioception, or the sense of our bodys movement and position in space. However, the prominence of molecular biology means that physiology wanted to go a level deeper and find out what specific proteins and which genes are responsible in this symphony of the nerves.

What is the contribution of David Julius towards this?

Capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide), the active component of chili peppers, generates the burning sensation when eating spicy food. Studies on capsaicin showed that when it acted on sensory nerves it induced ionic currents, or the gush of charged particles along a membrane. In the late 1990s, Professor Julius pursued a project to identify a nerve receptor for capsaicin. He thought that understanding the action of capsaicin could provide insights into how the body sensed pain. He and his team went about this by looking for a gene that could induce a response to capsaicin in cells that usually wouldnt react to it. They found one in a novel ion channel protein, later called TRPV1, where TRP stands for transient receptor potential, and VR1 is vanilloid receptor1. They were part of a super family of TRP and it was found that TRPV1 was activated when temperatures were greater than 40 degrees Celsius, which is close to the bodys pain threshold. Several other TRP channels were found, and this ion channel could be activated by various chemical substances, as well as by cold and heat in a way that differs between mammalian species.

What did Ardem Patapoutian find?

Growing up in Beirut as an Armenian, during the Lebanese Civil War, Patapoutian has related stories of being captured by militants at university, before he moved to the United States. Patapoutian and his colleagues were working on how pressure and force affected cells. Following an approach similar to that of Professor Julius, they identified 72 potential genes that could encode an ion channel receptor and trigger sensitivity to mechanical force, and it emerged that one of them coded for a novel ion channel protein, called Piezo1. Via Piezo1, a second gene was discovered and named Piezo2. Sensory neurons were found to express high levels of Piezo2 and further studies firmly established that Piezo1 and Piezo2 are ion channels that are directly activated by the exertion of pressure on cell membranes. The breakthrough by Professor Patapoutian led to a series of papers from his and other groups, demonstrating that the Piezo2 ion channel is essential for the sense of touch. Moreover, Piezo2 was shown to play a key role in proprioception as well as regulate blood pressure, respiration and urinary bladder control. Independently of one another, Professor Julius and Professor Patapoutian used the chemical substance menthol to identify TRPM8, a receptor activated by cold.

What applications do these discoveries have?

Along with the discoveries of specific genes, proteins and pathways, the scientists pioneered experimental methods that allow insight into the structure of these pain and temperature sensors. The challenge for pain relieving drugs is to precisely target regions without causing imbalance in other necessary functions. These scientists work, the Nobel Prize committee said, significantly helped towards reaching that goal.

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Explained | The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - The Hindu