Three scientists share 2013 Nobel for medicine

Three scientists, James Rothman and Randy Schekman, both from the US, and Thomas Sudhof from Germany, have jointly won the Nobel Prize for medicine (physiology) for their discovery of how cells precisely transport materials to their locations.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013 was awarded jointly to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof "for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells".

The 2013 Nobel Prize honours the three scientists who have solved the mystery of how the human cell organises its transport system, the Nobel Prize committee said in a release.
They found the way "vesicles" act like cargo ships transporting their goods to the exact destination - a discovery crucial to finding the way the brain communicates, hormones are released and the immune system functions.

Each cell is a factory that produces and exports molecules. For instance, insulin is manufactured and released into the blood and chemical signals called neurotransmitters are sent from one nerve cell to another. These molecules are transported around the cell in small packages called vesicles.

Vesicles are tiny bubbles of fat which act as the cell's internal shipping service.

They can send material such as enzymes, neurotransmitters and hormones, around the cell. Or they can fuse with the outer surface of the cell and release their contents into the wider body.

The three Nobel laureates have discovered the molecular principlesthat govern how this cargo is delivered to the right place at the right time in the cell.

Prof James Rothman, from Yale University, found proteins embedded in the vesicles which act as the docking mechanism needed to release the material at the correct location.

Prof Randy Schekman, from the University of California at Berkeley, discovered the genes which regulated the transport system in yeast. He found that mutations in three genes resulted in a "situation resembling a poorly planned public transport system".

Prof Thomas Sudhof, originally from Germany but now at Stanford University in the US, made breakthroughs in how the transport system works in the brain so that neurotransmitters are released at the precise time.

Through their discoveries, Rothman, Schekman and Sudhof have revealed the exquisitely precise control system for the transport and delivery of cellular cargo. Disturbances in this system have deleterious effects and contribute to conditions such as neurological diseases, diabetes, and immunological disorders.

The billions of cells which make up the body are not empty blobs, instead they are packed with precise machinery. In order for a cell to mfunction properly it needs the right materials in the right place at the right time. The prize committee said the findings, "Had a major impact on our understanding of how cargo is delivered with timing and precision within and outside the cell.

"Without this wonderfully precise organisation, the cell would lapse into chaos."

A defective vesicle transport system is implicated in diabetes and brain disorders.