Summary
As we all know, the G-protein-coupled receptors help a lot in our physiological responses to hormones, neurotransmitters and environmental stimulants. Because of the importance of G-protein-coupled receptors in our life, here we will introduce the Nobel Prize winners in the study of G-protein-coupled receptors in 2012.
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There are two winners in Nobel Prize in 2012--- Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka.
Robert J. Lefkowitz
As an American physician and biochemist, Lefkowitz was born on April 15, 1943. Because of the discovery in the family G-protein-coupled receptors, he is well known around the world. In his early life, their family had immigrated to the United States from Poland. In 1959, he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. After that he attended Columbia College, where he obtained his Bachelor Degree of Arts in chemistry in 1962 and in 1966 he received an M.D, Degree. He served for both College of Physicians and Surgeons and the National Institutes of Health. After that, he was appointed at the Duke University Medical Center as a professor of Biochemistry. Lefkowitz also had received many prizes, as well as the Nobel Prize in 2012.
Brian K. Kobilka
As an American physiologist, Kobilka was born on May 30.1955. H is also well known for the discoveries in the family G-protein-coupled receptors. After he graduated from Little Falls High School, he attended the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he got his bachelor’s degree in Biology. And then he received his M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine. The work from Kobilka Laboratory has contributed a lot in the molecular structure of theβ2-adrenergic receptor, which are highly used by other scientists because of the importance of GPCRs in pharmaceutical therapeutics. As well as the Nobel Prize in 2012, he also was awarded for the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology. What’s more, his work---GPCR structure was named “runner-up” for the 2007 “Breakthrough of the Year” award from Science.
The two winners in 2012 are both well known for the discoveries that reveal the inner workings of important family G-protein-coupled receptors.