AU’s connection with Nobel winning research
PRAYAGRAJ, Nov 3 (HS): The Nobel Committee has awarded two US scientists Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius the 2021 Physiology and Medicine Nobel Prize for their discovery of the molecular basis for our ability to sense temperature and touch. This Nobel award winning research on capsaicin has an indirect connection with Allahabad University (AU). To decipher their study on pain receptors, the scientists employed the pungent substance found in chilli peppers known as ‘capsaicin.’
The Nobel Committee recognised the significance of capsaicin and awarded them the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their significant findings on pain and temperature sensing mechanisms in living systems based on the chemical capsaicin’s effect. In a similar vein, over the past 15 years, a research group in the Biochemistry department here has been studying the non-neuronal effects of capsaicin, led by Prof SI Rizvi. Capsaicin’s physiological and biochemical effects have been the subject of numerous research articles by this group.
Prof Rizvi, commenting on these findings, said capsaicin, the chemical that gives chillis their ‘hot taste,’ is a fascinating molecule. “It attaches to the same nerve endings on the skin that transport both pain and temperature sensations. The nerve is stimulated when capsaicin binds to these nerve endings, known as nociceptors, and we get a ‘hot’ sensation. The nerve becomes insensitive or numb when capsaicin binds to nociceptors or pain receptors for a long time,” he stated.
Capsaicin’s ability to numb the nerves that transmit pain sensations has opened up new possibilities for using this spicy molecule to alleviate pain. It is also a well-known fact that food tastes hotter when it is heated to a greater temperature. This is because the action of capsaicin is amplified by a high temperature, according to Prof Rizvi. The effects of capsaicin on the cell membrane have been studied by a research group at the University of Allahabad. “We’ve looked into a new dimension centred on the topic of why people in hot climates eat more chillies,” he said.
