Premios Nobel y cáncer / Nobel laureates and cancer

Los premios Nobel surgen en 1895 cuando Alfred Nobel firma su testamento dejando una gran parte de su riqueza a la creación de la Fundación Nobel y para el establecimiento de premios, a personas capaces de ayudar a mejorar la humanidad a través del conocimiento, la ciencia y el humanismo. Este premio se otorga en áreas, como la física, fisiología o medicina, química, literatura, paz y economía. Inició en 1901 y se mantiene hasta la actualidad, donde se han galardonado a 943 personas y 25 organizaciones. La historia y conocimientos conmemorados en los premios Nobel ha permitido un desarrollo íntegro en la comprensión, diagnóstico, terapia y progresos científicos en los diversos tipos de cáncer, sentando las bases y siendo la inspiración de miles de científicos a nivel mundial que trabajan arduamente en el área de la oncología. Estimaciones de la web GLOBOCAN indican que a nivel mundial se produjeron aproximadamente 19 millones de nuevos casos de cáncer y casi 10 millones de muertes por cáncer solo en el 2020. Este estudio tiene como objetivo revisar y reunir los principales descubrimientos científicos premiados con el Nobel en el área de la fisiología o medicina y química, que contribuyeron al conocimiento, diagnóstico y/o tratamiento oncológico desde 1901 a 2021.

The Nobel Prize originated in 1895 when Alfred Nobel signed his will, leaving a large part of his wealth to the creation of the Nobel Foundation and the establishment of this prize, with the vision that people could help improve humanity through knowledge, science, and humanism. The Nobel Prize has been awarded in areas such as physics, physiology or medicine, chemistry, literature, peace, and economics. 943 people and 25 organizations have been awarded since 1901 to this day. The history and knowledge commemorated in the Nobel Prize have allowed an integral development in the understanding, diagnosis, therapy, and scientific progress in different types of cancer, laying the foundations and being the inspiration for thousands of scientists worldwide who work hard in the area of oncology. GLOBOCAN estimates indicated that there were approximately 19 million new cancer cases globally and almost 10 million cancer deaths in 2020 alone; hence, this study reviews and brings together the main scientific discoveries awarded with the Nobel Prize in the area of physiology or medicine and chemistry, which contributed to the knowledge, diagnosis and/or treatment of cancer from 1901 to 2021.

Melatonin Protects the Heart, Lungs and Kidneys from Oxidative Stress under Intermittent Hypobaric Hypoxia in Rats

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is the main secretory product of the pineal gland in all mammals including humans, but it is also produced in other organs. It has been previously demonstrated to be a powerful organ-protective substance under oxidative stress conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of melatonin in several organs such as heart, lung, kidney, and of the reproductive system, such as testis and epididymis in animals exposed to intermittent hypobaric hypoxia and therefore exposed to oxidative stress and analyzed by lipid peroxidation. Ten-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups for 96 hours during 32 days under: 1) Normobaric conditions, 2) plus physiologic solution, 3) plus melatonin, 4) intermittent hypobaric hypoxia, 5 plus physiologic solution and 6) plus melatonin. The animals were injected with melatonin (10 mg/kg body weight) at an interval of 96 hours during 32 days. Results indicated that melatonin decreased lipid peroxidation in heart, kidneys and lung under intermittent hypobaric hypoxia conditions. However, it did not exhibit any protective effect in liver, testis, epididymis and sperm count.

Role of the phosphatase PP4 in the activation of JNK-1 in prostate carcinoma cell lines PC-3 and LNCaP resulting in increased AP-1 and EGR-1 activity

The specific signaling connections between the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) such as c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK-1) and phosphatases PP4 and M3/6, affecting the family of early nuclear factors, is complex and remains poorly understood. JNK-1 regulates cellular differentiation, apoptosis and stress responsiveness by up-regulating early nuclear factors such as c-Jun, a member of the activating protein (AP-1) family, and the Early Growth Factor (EGR-1). C-Jun, when phosphorylated by c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK-1) associates with c-Fos to form the AP-1 transcription factor that activates gene expression. We have investigated the regulation of the JNK-1 kinase by co-transfecting phosphatases PP4 and M3/6 in prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and LNCaP, which have been previously stimulated with human EGF or cisplatin. Co-transfections of plasmids expressing the JNK-1 and the serine/threonine phosphatases PP4 resulted in a significant increase in JNK-1 activity in both PC3 and LNCaP cells. In contrast, co-transfection of JNK-1 with the dual specific phosphatase serine/threonine M3/6 showed only a marginal effect in JNK-1 activity. The phosphatase M3/6 also failed in blocking the induction of JNK-1 activity observed in presence of PP4. The higher activity of JNK-1 was associated with increased activities of the factors c-Jun/AP-1 and EGR-1. This suggests that JNK-1 activity in PC-3 and LNCaP cells requires not only active PP4 for stable maintenance but also suggests that the relative degree of phosphorylation of multiple cellular components is the determinant of JNK-1 stability.