Oct 4, 2021 07:42 PM
(This post was last modified: Oct 4, 2021 07:51 PM by Yazata.)
Prize goes to two US researchers, David Julius of University of California, San Francisco and Ardem Patapoutian of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. The prize is for their work unravelling the skin's sensitivity to touch and heat. And it's all because of hot chili peppers!
Good little description of their work from the Nobel prize committee. Small excerpt
"In the latter part of the 1990's, David Julius at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, saw the possibility for major advances by analyzing how the chemical compound capsaicin causes the burning sensation we feel when we come into contact with chili peppers. Capsaicin was already known to activate nerve cells causing pain sensations, but how this chemical actually exerted this function was an unsolved riddle... After a laborious search, a single gene was identified that was able to make cells capsaicin sensitive... Further experiments revealed that the identified gene encoded a novel ion channel protein and this newly discovered capsaicin receptor was later named TRPV1. When Julius investigated the protein's ability to respond to heat, he realized that he had discovered a heat-sensing receptor that is activated at temperatures perceived as painful... Independently of one another, both David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian used the chemical substance menthol to identify TRPM8, a receptor that was shown to be activated by cold. Additional ion channels related to TRPV1 and TRPM8 were identified and found to be activated by a range of different temperatures..."
https://www.nobelprizemedicine.org/wp-co..._FINAL.pdf
So hot chili peppers fake out and activate the same ion channels that are activated by heat, triggering the neuron and making us feel like we are sensing heat that's burning our mouths.
Good little description of their work from the Nobel prize committee. Small excerpt
"In the latter part of the 1990's, David Julius at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, saw the possibility for major advances by analyzing how the chemical compound capsaicin causes the burning sensation we feel when we come into contact with chili peppers. Capsaicin was already known to activate nerve cells causing pain sensations, but how this chemical actually exerted this function was an unsolved riddle... After a laborious search, a single gene was identified that was able to make cells capsaicin sensitive... Further experiments revealed that the identified gene encoded a novel ion channel protein and this newly discovered capsaicin receptor was later named TRPV1. When Julius investigated the protein's ability to respond to heat, he realized that he had discovered a heat-sensing receptor that is activated at temperatures perceived as painful... Independently of one another, both David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian used the chemical substance menthol to identify TRPM8, a receptor that was shown to be activated by cold. Additional ion channels related to TRPV1 and TRPM8 were identified and found to be activated by a range of different temperatures..."
https://www.nobelprizemedicine.org/wp-co..._FINAL.pdf
So hot chili peppers fake out and activate the same ion channels that are activated by heat, triggering the neuron and making us feel like we are sensing heat that's burning our mouths.