The Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute of Sweden announced the co-winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their contributions to the adaptation mechanism of cells to oxygen concentration. Three co-winners found HIF-1α molecules affect ~ 300 genes, as well as the hypoxia response element, which acts as a switch in various genes when our bodies are in hypoxia.
These changes can lead to multiple human diseases such as anemia, infections, myocardial infarction, tumors, and strokes. In particular, cancer cells grow even in a hypoxic state because the HIF-1α protein induces angiogenesis factors expression.
When patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, cancer is often in a low-oxygen state, so it was not clear why or how the drug is not working”. Answers to such problems open significant pathways on how to improve the treatment’s effectiveness in the future. Thanks to their research contributions, the protein is now the target of targeted anticancer drugs.
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