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Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine
(about 2 hours later)
Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his discoveries on how cells recycle their content, a process known as autophagy. Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his discoveries on how cells recycle their content, a process known as autophagy, a Greek term for “self-eating.”
Autophagy, derived from Greek, means “self-eating.” It’s a crucial process. During starvation, cells break down proteins and nonessential components and reuse them for energy. Cells also use autophagy to destroy invading viruses and bacteria, sending them off for recycling. And cells use autophagy to get rid of damaged structures. The process is thought to go awry in cancer, infectious diseases, immunological diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Disruptions in autophagy are also thought to play a role in aging.
“This concept emerged during the 1960s, when researchers first observed that the cell could destroy its own contents by enclosing it in membranes, forming sacklike vesicles that were transported to a recycling compartment, called the lysosome, for degradation,” the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said in announcing the prize. But little was known about how autophagy happens, what genes were involved, or its role in disease and normal development until the early 1990s when Dr. Ohsumi began studying the process in baker’s yeast.
In a series of experiments in the early 1990s, Dr. Ohsumi used baker’s yeast to identify genes essential for autophagy, and he went on to examine the underlying mechanisms of the process. The process he studies is critical for cells to survive and to stay healthy. The autophagy genes and the metabolic pathways he discovered in yeast are used by higher organisms, including humans. And mutations in those genes can cause disease. His work led to a new field and inspired hundreds of researchers around the world to study the process and opened a new area of inquiry.
“Ohsumi’s discoveries led to a new paradigm in our understanding of how the cell recycles its content,” the Nobel Assembly said. “His discoveries opened the path to understanding the fundamental importance of autophagy in many physiological processes, such as in the adaptation to starvation or response to infection.” Dr. Ohsumi, who was born in 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1974, floundered at first trying to find his way. He started out in chemistry but decided it was too established a field with few opportunities.
Mutations in autophagy genes can cause disease, the assembly said, and disruptions in the process have been linked to Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Like many scientists, Dr. Ohsumi, who was born in 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1974, floundered at first trying to find his way. He started out in chemistry but decided it was too established a field with few opportunities.
So he switched to molecular biology. But his Ph.D. thesis was unimpressive, and he could not find a job. His adviser suggested a postdoctoral position at Rockefeller University in New York, where he was to study in vitro fertilization in mice.So he switched to molecular biology. But his Ph.D. thesis was unimpressive, and he could not find a job. His adviser suggested a postdoctoral position at Rockefeller University in New York, where he was to study in vitro fertilization in mice.
“I grew very frustrated,” he told the Journal of Cell Biology. He switched to studying yeast. “I grew very frustrated,” he told the Journal of Cell Biology in 2012. He switched to studying the duplication of DNA in yeast. That work led him to a junior professor position at the University of Tokyo where he picked up a microscope and started peering at sacks in yeast where cell components are degraded — work that eventually brought him, at age 43, to the discoveries that the Nobel Assembly recognized on Monday. Dr. Ohsumi later moved to the National Institute for Basic Biology, in Okazaki, and since 2009, he has been a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
He became an associate professor and established his research lab in 1988. “All I can say is, it’s such an honor,” Dr. Ohsumi told reporters at the Tokyo Institute of Technology after learning he had been awarded the Nobel, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK. “I’d like to tell young people that not all can be successful in science, but it’s important to rise to the challenge.”
There, at age 43, he made the discoveries that the Nobel Assembly recognized on Monday. Dr. Ohsumi later moved to the National Institute for Basic Biology, in Okazaki, and since 2009, he has been a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. “He is a quiet man,” said Dr. Beth Levine, director of autophagy research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. But he also is quietly daring.
When he received the Canada Gairdner International Award last year, which is given for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science, he described himself to The Globe and Mail newspaper as “just a basic researcher in yeast.” “Unfortunately, these days, at least in Japan, young scientists want to get a stable job, so they are afraid to take risks,” he told the Journal of Cell Biology. “Most people decide to work on the most popular field because they think that is the easiest way to get a paper published.”
He acknowledged, however, that the process was seen as fundamental to human cell survival. “I believe its relevance to many diseases will be discovered in the near future,” he told the newspaper. As for himself, he said: “I am not very competitive, so I always look for a new subject to study, even if it is not so popular. If you start from some sort of basic, new observation, you will have plenty to work on.”
Cells need to degrade proteins in development and in their normal lifetimes as well as during diseases like cancer, infection and starvation. Biologists knew there was a sack in the cell that seemed like a garbage dump, but few had bothered to ask much more about it. Dr. Ohsumi discovered how cells control degradation of their own proteins, what genes are involved, and what happens when autophagy goes awry. Dr. Ohsumi’s Nobel Prize “was inevitable,” Dr. Levine said. Dr. Ohsumi, she said, “is venerated in the autophagy field.”
Disruptions in autophagy are thought to underlie many conditions, including cancer, infections, neurological diseases and aging. And since autophagy is a fundamental and crucial function in cells, it can be important to understand how it is controlled and what its consequences are. The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, called Dr. Ohsumi to congratulate him, saying “your research gave light to the people who suffer from serious diseases,” according to a Nikkei report.
“All I can say is, it’s such an honor,” Dr. Ohsumi told reporters at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK. “I’d like to tell young people that not all can be successful in science, but it’s important to rise to the challenge.” Speculation had it that the Nobel would go to researchers whose work was instrumental in developing new treatments that unleash the immune system to attack cancer cells. The list is long. Front-runners included James P. Allison at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Craig B. Thompson of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Gordon J. Freeman of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University. Another scientist often mentioned as a Nobel contender is Jeffrey Bluestone of the University of California, San Francisco, who works on the immune system in disorders in which it attacks normal cells.
William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Tu Youyou were recognized for their use of modern laboratory techniques to discover anti-parasitic drugs long hidden in herbs and soil.William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Tu Youyou were recognized for their use of modern laboratory techniques to discover anti-parasitic drugs long hidden in herbs and soil.
Five more will be awarded in the days to come:Five more will be awarded in the days to come:
■ The Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced on Tuesday in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald.■ The Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced on Tuesday in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald.
■ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced on Wednesday in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar.■ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced on Wednesday in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar.
■ The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Norway. Read about last year’s winners, the National Dialogue Quartet of Tunisia.■ The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Norway. Read about last year’s winners, the National Dialogue Quartet of Tunisia.
■ The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be announced on Monday, Oct. 10, in Sweden. Read about last year’s winner, Angus Deaton.■ The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be announced on Monday, Oct. 10, in Sweden. Read about last year’s winner, Angus Deaton.
■ The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 13, in Sweden. Read about last year’s winner, Svetlana Alexievich.■ The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 13, in Sweden. Read about last year’s winner, Svetlana Alexievich.