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Herbert Weissbach (biochemist)

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Herbert Weissbach
Born(1932-03-16)March 16, 1932
Bronx, New York City
EducationBronx High School of Science
Alma materCity College of New York (B.S.)
George Washington University (Ph.D.)
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
Molecular Biology
InstitutionsRoche Institute of Molecular Biology
Florida Atlantic University
Thesis Studies on 5-Hydroxyindole Metabolism  (1957)
Academic advisorsHorace Barker

Dr. Herbert Weissbach NAS NAI AAM (born 16 March 1932) is an American biochemist/molecular biologist.

He was born in the Bronx, New York City, where he spent his childhood. He is one of 3 children, having a younger sister Carol and an older brother Arthur,[1][2] also a biochemist. He obtained his high school diploma from the Bronx High School of Science and a B.S. degree, majoring in chemistry, from the City College of New York (1953).

Upon graduation, he was recruited by Dr. Sidney Udenfriend to the National Heart Institute of National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enter a new joint graduate program between the NIH and George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. from George Washington University (Thesis: Studies on 5-Hydroxyindole Metabolism, 1957) based on research done at the NIH in the Udenfriend laboratory. In 1958 the NIH supported his postdoctoral studies done with Dr. H.A. Barker[3] at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was involved in the discovery of the coenzyme form of vitamin B12.[4][5]

In 1959 he returned to the NIH as an independent investigator where he continued his studies on the role of vitamin B12 in methionine biosynthesis, research that helped to elucidate the known inter-relationship among vitamin 12, folic acid and one carbon metabolism.[6][7] The studies on methionine synthesis led to his collaboration with the Nirenberg laboratory at the NIH shortly after the genetic code was cracked.[8]

By 1967 the Weissbach laboratory was deeply involved in protein synthesis (translation) [9][10][11][12] at which time he accepted a position as associate director of the RIMB to help found the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology (RIMB) with Sidney Udenfriend, and in 1983 he became director of the RIMB and a vice-president of research at Hoffmann-La Roche, Nutley, NJ. The RIMB was involved in the very early days of the emergence of the biotechnology industry and was instrumental in helping Hoffmann-La Roche enter this field.[13] Weissbach described this period at Roche in a book he co-authored with David Fisher in 2016 titled “A Camelot of the Biomedical Sciences: The Story of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology”.[14]

After the RIMB closed, in 1997 he accepted a position as distinguished research professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) REFF, where he founded, and was director, of the Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology [15] (CMBB) for 20 years. In 2017 he was appointed Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at FAU. His most recent research has involved understanding the mechanisms that cells use to protect against oxidative damage, based on the observation that cells have a mechanism to protect against oxidative damage to methionine residues in proteins [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

Notable awards

[edit]
  • Election to the National Academy of Sciences (1982–Present)[24]
  • 300 most cited authors (1961-1976), Current Content July 10, 1978
  • Superior Service Award of the Department of Health Education and Welfare (1968)
  • Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry(1970)[25]
  • Townsend Harris Medal of the City College of New York Alumni Association (1988)[26]
  • George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award (1994)
  • Member of the American Academy of Microbiology (1997)
  • Charter Fellow of the National Academy of inventors (2012)
  • BioFlorida Lifetime Achievement Award[27]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Kresge, Nicole; Simoni, Robert D.; Hill, Robert L. (2007-08-31). "A Short Career in Baseball and a Long Career in Vitamin B12: the Work of Herbert Weissbach". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 282 (35): e28–e29. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(20)74671-5. ISSN 0021-9258.
  2. ^ "Work of Herbert Weissbach - Journal of Biological Chemistry)". www.jbc.org. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  3. ^ Biographical Memoirs. 2004. doi:10.17226/10992. ISBN 978-0-309-08957-9.
  4. ^ Weissbach, H (1959). "Isolation and Properties of B12 Coenzymes Containing Benzimidazole or Dimethylbenzimidazole". PNAS. 45 (4): 521–5. Bibcode:1959PNAS...45..521W. doi:10.1073/pnas.45.4.521. PMC 222591. PMID 16590408.
  5. ^ Weissbach, H (1960). "Structure of the adenylcobamide coenzyme: degradation by cyanide, acid, and light". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 235 (5): 1462–73. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)69429-3. PMID 13843764.
  6. ^ weissbach, H (1963). "Studies on the Terminal Reaction in the Biosynthesis of Methionine". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 238 (10): 3318–24. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)48665-6. PMID 14085379.
  7. ^ weissbach, H (1967). "Isolation of methyl-B-12 from Escherichia coli B N-5-methyl-H-4-folate-homocysteine vitamin-B-12 transmethylase". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 27 (3): 398–404. doi:10.1016/s0006-291x(67)80113-x. PMID 5340657.
  8. ^ weissbach, H (1966). "Formylation of amino acid analogues of methionine sRNA". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 24 (1): 50–5. doi:10.1016/0006-291x(66)90408-6. PMID 5338733.
  9. ^ weissbach, H (1967). "Methionyl Soluble Ribonucleic Acid Transformylase. I. Purification and Partial Characterization". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 242 (7): 1522–5. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)96123-5. PMID 5337045.
  10. ^ weissbach, H (1967). "Guanosine Triphosphate Interaction with an Amino Acid Polymerization Factor from E. coli". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 58 (4): 1566–73. Bibcode:1967PNAS...58.1566A. doi:10.1073/pnas.58.4.1566. PMC 223962. PMID 4867665.
  11. ^ Weissbach, H (1970). "Studies on the Purification and Properties of Factor Tu from E. coli". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 141 (1): 26–37. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(70)90102-5. PMID 4921066.
  12. ^ weissbach, H (1977). "DNA-directed in vitro synthesis of beta-galactosidase. Studies with purified factors". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 252 (19): 6889–94. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(17)39933-7. PMID 561072.
  13. ^ Weissbach, H (1981). "In vitro synthesis of biologically active human leukocyte interferon directed by recombinant plasmid DNA". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 210 (1): 417–9. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(81)90205-8. PMID 6170264.
  14. ^ Weissbach, Herbert; Fisher, David (2016-10-17). A Camelot of the Biomedical Sciences: The Story of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. RIMB adventures. ISBN 978-0998278407.
  15. ^ "Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology : Florida Atlantic University - Charles e. Schmidt College of Science".
  16. ^ Weissbach, H (1981). "Enzymatic Reduction of Protein-Bound Methionine Sulfoxide". PNAS. 78 (4): 2155–8. Bibcode:1981PNAS...78.2155B. doi:10.1073/pnas.78.4.2155. PMC 319302. PMID 7017726.
  17. ^ Weissbach, H (1992). "High Level Expression and Purification of Peptide Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase in Escherichia coli". Cellular and Molecular Biology. 38 (5): 529–42. PMID 1468111.
  18. ^ Weissbach, H (2000). "Structure and mechanism of methionine sulfoxide reductase, an "anti-oxidation" enzyme". Biochemistry. 39 (44): 13307–12. doi:10.1021/bi0020269. PMID 11063566.
  19. ^ Weissbach, H (2002). "High-quality life extension by the enzyme peptide methionine sulfoxide reductase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 99 (5): 2748–53. Bibcode:2002PNAS...99.2748R. doi:10.1073/pnas.032671199. PMC 122419. PMID 11867705.
  20. ^ Weissbach, H (2009). "Sulindac confers high level ischemic protection to the heart through late preconditioning mechanisms". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106 (46): 19611–6. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10619611M. doi:10.1073/pnas.0911046106. PMC 2780796. PMID 19884509.
  21. ^ Weissbach, H (2014). "Pharmacological protection of retinal pigmented epithelial cells by sulindac involves PPARα". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 111 (47): 16754–9. Bibcode:2014PNAS..11116754S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1419576111. PMC 4250171. PMID 25385631.
  22. ^ Weissbach, H (2012). "Combination of Sulindac and Dichloroacetate Kills Cancer Cells via Oxidative Damage". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e39949. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...739949A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039949. PMC 3398923. PMID 22866174.
  23. ^ Weissbach, H (2016). "Identification of activators of methionine sulfoxide reductases A and B". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 469 (4): 863–7. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.12.077. PMC 4724238. PMID 26718410.
  24. ^ "Herbert Weissbach".
  25. ^ "Herbert Weissbach". Chemical & Engineering News. 48 (17): 59–61. 1970. doi:10.1021/cen-v048n017.p059.
  26. ^ "The City College Alumni Association - the Townsend Harris Medalist". Archived from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  27. ^ "Herbert Weissbach Receives BioFlorida's 'Lifetime Achievement Award'". Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
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