Logistics in Cells

In the process of metabolism, how cells sort, package and deliver large quantities of substances? Three Nobel laureates found that the key to the problem lies in the vesicle transport system.

Under a microscope, neurons look like tiny folds of paper crumpled and unfolded, and they communicate through synapses, which are the basis on which the human brain can function. Thomas Syudhof, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in the United States, is interested in finding out how the "communication" between neurons works.

On October 7, 2013, when the Nobel Prize website called Sudhoff's mobile phone, he was driving on his way to Spain, and that afternoon he was going to Baeza to give an academic report. At first he thought he was calling from his colleagues to give him directions, so he drove into a parking lot to answer the phone. Unexpectedly, it was a call from Sweden.

Before that, Nobel Prize website staff called Sudhoff's home, but he was not at home. The phone rang three times before his wife, Chen Lu, decided to go downstairs to answer it. She thought it was from a Chinese relative who was confused about the time zone.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to three scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the study of "transport of cellular materials" - James Rothman and Randy Schekman of the United States, and Thomas S dhof, born in Germany.

Although Sudhoff has not worked with two other people, they have worked together to solve a major biological problem, that is, "how do cells sort, package and deliver large quantities of substances to the right place at the right time in the metabolic process?" The three Nobel laureates have shown that the key to the problem lies in the vesicle transport system in cells.

Logistics Network in the Body

Like the developed logistics network in modern society, which can deliver goods to millions of households accurately, a similar transport system is needed in cells to transport the molecules produced by cells, such as hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines, to other parts of cells or out of cells.

Forty years ago, George Palade, a renowned cell biologist and Nobel Laureate in physiology or medicine, discovered intracellular transport networks under electron microscopy. He found that there was a membrane-encapsulated vesicle, or vesicle, in the cell. These vesicles can carry cell cargo through organelles or fuse with cell membranes to release the cargo out of cells. The presence of vesicles can effectively prevent the mixing of different types of cellular goods with different locations.

The discovery was quickly accepted by most scientists, but with it came a more complex question: "How do these vesicles know when and where to deliver the goods?"

In 1976, Schuckman of the University of California, Berkeley, set up a laboratory and began to explore the problem in an unusual way. Using yeast as a model animal, we tried to study the mechanism of intracellular substance transport system. At that time, some peers thought his research was a "silly decision".

Through genetic screening, he found a yeast cell with a defective transport system, in which vesicles accumulated in certain parts of the cell, as if the logistics network was paralysed and goods piled up. He found that mutations in certain genetic genes caused defects in the yeast cell.

With these genes as a breakthrough, and after 10 years of research, Schukman identified three types of genes regulating vesicle transport at different stages, thus providing a new insight into the mechanism of material transport system.

At the earliest time, Schuckman's research on yeast was not only considered foolish by some people, but also often undervalued as basic research. However, his research was later proved to be of great value. In the 1980s and 1990s, many drugs were developed thanks to his research on yeast. Today, one third of the world's insulin comes from yeast.

At the same time as Schuckman, Roosevelt, who was at Stanford University at the time, also set up his own laboratory, using mammalian cells for similar experiments. He found a protein that affects the transport of cellular material, and the gene encoding the protein corresponds to the mutant gene found by Schukman in yeast, which means that vesicle transport systems share a common evolutionary origin.

In addition, Roseman discovered a protein complex that allows vesicles to dock and fuse with the membrane system of their destination. In order to ensure that goods are delivered to precise locations, they will only be combined in a specific way. This discovery elucidates the mechanism by which vesicles are transported to their target.

These discoveries have long made Schukman and Roseman popular Nobel Prize winners. In 2002, they won the Lasker Prize in the United States. Many of the winners of this prize will be awarded the Nobel Prize later, so it is often regarded as a kind of "pointer". These two biologists are no exception, and they both look forward to receiving a call from Stockholm in October of a certain year.

In a news material, the University of California, Berkeley, described that every year, when the expected morning came and went and there was no Swedish phone, Schukman and Roseman would call each other. Shuckman will borrow electricity