一种治疗癌症的方法可以让人们“夜视”

一种治疗癌症的方法可以让人们“夜视”，我们终于知道原因了

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.

在所有不同类型的癌症治疗中，光动力疗法——利用光来摧毁恶性细胞——可能会产生最奇怪的副作用之一:患者在黑暗中往往能更好地看清东西。

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.

现在研究人员已经找到了这种现象发生的原因:视紫红质，一种存在于我们眼睛视网膜中的感光蛋白，与一种叫做绿素e6的光敏化合物相互作用，这种化合物是这种癌症治疗的关键成分。

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.

这项工作建立在科学家已经知道的有机化合物视网膜的基础上，这种视网膜存在于眼睛中，通常对红外线不敏感。

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.

可见光触发视网膜与视紫红质分离——这被转换成我们的大脑用来观察的电信号。虽然我们在晚上没有太多的可见光，但事实证明，这种机制也可以通过光和化学的另一种组合来触发。

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

在红外光和注射氯离子的情况下，视网膜的变化与可见光下相同。

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

法国洛林大学的化学家安东尼奥·莫纳里告诉法国国家科学研究中心的洛尔·卡勒斯:“这就解释了夜间视力是如何提高的。”