The two chemistry professors, Avraham Hershko and Aharon Ciechanover, will share the $1.25 million prize with another professor - Irwin Rose, of the University of California .
Their research dealt with how the body deals with unwanted proteins and defends itself against diseases such as cancer. "We discovered the process by which the body exercises quality control," Ciechanover explained.
As Sciencedaily.com reported, the three laureates found "that the cell functions as a highly-efficient checking station where proteins are built up and broken down at a furious rate. The degradation is not indiscriminate, but takes place through a process that is controlled in detail so that the proteins to be broken down at any given moment are given a molecular label - a 'kiss of death', to be dramatic. The labeled proteins are then fed into the cells' 'waste disposers,' [known as] proteasomes, where they are chopped into small pieces and destroyed. The label consists of a molecule called ubiquitin. This fastens to the protein to be destroyed, accompanies it to the proteasome where it is recognized as the key in a lock, and signals that a protein is on the way for disassembly. Shortly before the protein is squeezed into the proteasome, its ubiquitin label is disconnected for re-use."
Their research has already helped gain approval for one drug, but they warned that they have not yet discovered a drug to prevent or cure cancer.
Previously, Israelis have won Nobel prizes in literature and for peace.
Upon receiving the prize, the two professors urged the Israeli government to do more to nurture Israel's education institutions. Ciechanover said Israeli institutions lack money for research. "We don't have oil, uranium or diamonds," he said, noting that the Jewish State's high technology industry and defense forces "depend rather on what we have in our heads."
Their research dealt with how the body deals with unwanted proteins and defends itself against diseases such as cancer. "We discovered the process by which the body exercises quality control," Ciechanover explained.
Nobel Prize awards ceremony
As Sciencedaily.com reported, the three laureates found "that the cell functions as a highly-efficient checking station where proteins are built up and broken down at a furious rate. The degradation is not indiscriminate, but takes place through a process that is controlled in detail so that the proteins to be broken down at any given moment are given a molecular label - a 'kiss of death', to be dramatic. The labeled proteins are then fed into the cells' 'waste disposers,' [known as] proteasomes, where they are chopped into small pieces and destroyed. The label consists of a molecule called ubiquitin. This fastens to the protein to be destroyed, accompanies it to the proteasome where it is recognized as the key in a lock, and signals that a protein is on the way for disassembly. Shortly before the protein is squeezed into the proteasome, its ubiquitin label is disconnected for re-use."
Their research has already helped gain approval for one drug, but they warned that they have not yet discovered a drug to prevent or cure cancer.
Previously, Israelis have won Nobel prizes in literature and for peace.
Upon receiving the prize, the two professors urged the Israeli government to do more to nurture Israel's education institutions. Ciechanover said Israeli institutions lack money for research. "We don't have oil, uranium or diamonds," he said, noting that the Jewish State's high technology industry and defense forces "depend rather on what we have in our heads."