一種治療癌癥的方法可以讓人們“夜視”

一種治療癌癥的方法可以讓人們“夜視”，我們終于知道原因了

Amongst all the different types of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy - where light in is used to destroy malignant cells - might have one of the strangest side effects: patients are often better able to see in the dark.

在所有不同類型的癌癥治療中，光動(dòng)力療法——利用光來摧毀惡性細(xì)胞——可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生最奇怪的副作用之一:患者在黑暗中往往能更好地看清東西。

Now researchers have figured out why this happens: rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein in the retinas in our eyes, interacts with a photosensitive compound called chlorin e6, a crucial component of this type of cancer treatment.

現(xiàn)在研究人員已經(jīng)找到了這種現(xiàn)象發(fā)生的原因:視紫紅質(zhì)，一種存在于我們眼睛視網(wǎng)膜中的感光蛋白，與一種叫做綠素e6的光敏化合物相互作用，這種化合物是這種癌癥治療的關(guān)鍵成分。

The work builds on what scientists already know about the organic compound retinal, which is found in the eye and usually isn't sensitive to infrared light.

這項(xiàng)工作建立在科學(xué)家已經(jīng)知道的有機(jī)化合物視網(wǎng)膜的基礎(chǔ)上，這種視網(wǎng)膜存在于眼睛中，通常對紅外線不敏感。

Visible light triggers retinal to separate from rhodopsin - this is converted into the electrical signal our brains interpret to see. While we don't get much visible light at night, it turns out this mechanism can also be triggered with another combination of light and chemistry.

可見光觸發(fā)視網(wǎng)膜與視紫紅質(zhì)分離——這被轉(zhuǎn)換成我們的大腦用來觀察的電信號。雖然我們在晚上沒有太多的可見光，但事實(shí)證明，這種機(jī)制也可以通過光和化學(xué)的另一種組合來觸發(fā)。

Under infrared light and with a chlorin injection, retinal changes in the same way as it does under visible light.

在紅外光和注射氯離子的情況下，視網(wǎng)膜的變化與可見光下相同。

This explains the increase in night-time visual acuity, chemist Antonio Monari, from the University of Lorraine in France, told Laure Cailloce at CNRS.

法國洛林大學(xué)的化學(xué)家安東尼奧·莫納里告訴法國國家科學(xué)研究中心的洛爾·卡勒斯:“這就解釋了夜間視力是如何提高的。”