Edwin G. Krebs
Encyclopedia
Edwin Gerhard Krebs was an American biochemist. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
in 1989 together with Alfred Gilman winner of Nobel Prize in medicine in 1994 and, together with his collaborator Edmond H. Fischer
, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation
works as a switch to activate protein
s and regulate various cellular processes. Edwin Krebs is not to be confused with Hans Adolf Krebs
(1900–1981), who was also a Nobel Prize winning biochemist and who discovered the citric acid cycle
, which is also known as the Krebs cycle.
Krebs was born in Lansing, Iowa
, the third child of William Carl Krebs, a Presbyterian minister and Louise Helen (Stegeman) Krebs. The family moved frequently due to the nature of his father's work, though they settled in Greenville, Illinois
when Krebs was six and remained there until his father's unexpected death in 1933. Louise Krebs decided to move her family to Urbana, Illinois
, where Krebs's elder brothers were attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. Krebs attended Urbana High School
, and enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1936. In his fourth year of study Krebs had decided to either pursue a higher degree in organic chemistry
or study medicine. Receiving a scholarship to attend Washington University School of Medicine
in St. Louis
, he chose the latter.
The School of Medicine afforded Krebs the opportunity to train as a physician as well as to gain experience in medical research. Following graduation in 1943, he undertook an 18-month residency at Barnes Hospital
in St. Louis and then went on active duty as a medical officer in the Navy
. Krebs was discharged from the Navy in 1946 and was unable to immediately return to hospital work; he was advised to study basic science instead. He chose to study biochemistry
and was postdoctoral fellow to Carl and Gerty Cori
, working on the interaction of protamine
with rabbit muscle phosphorylase
. At the completion of his two years' study, Krebs decided to continue his career as a biochemist.
In 1948 Krebs accepted a position as assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington
, Seattle. When Edmond H. Fischer
arrived at the Department in 1953, the pair decided to work on the enzymology of phosphorylase
. During the course of their study they were able to observe the mechanism by which interconversion of the two forms of phosphorylase takes place: reversible protein phosphorylation.
Explained simply, reverse protein phosphorylation works like this: a protein kinase
moves a phosphate
group from adenosine triphosphate
(ATP) to a protein. The shape and the function of the protein is altered enabling it to take part in some biological process. When the protein has completed its role, a protein phosphatase
removes the phosphate and the protein reverts to its original state. This cycle takes place to control an enormous number of metabolic processes. For the key discovery of reversible protein phosphorylation, Fischer and Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1992.
Krebs's interest in teaching and administration led him to leave the University of Washington to become the founding chairman of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of California, Davis
. In 1977 he returned to the University of Washington as Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology
.
Krebs died on December 21, 2009. He is survived by his wife Virginia and three children.
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease...
and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers that have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemistry....
in 1989 together with Alfred Gilman winner of Nobel Prize in medicine in 1994 and, together with his collaborator Edmond H. Fischer
Edmond H. Fischer
Edmond H. Fischer is a Swiss American biochemist. He and his collaborator Edwin G. Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation works as a switch to activate proteins and regulate various cellular processes.-Early life:Fischer...
, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation
Phosphorylation
Phosphorylation is the addition of a phosphate group to a protein or other organic molecule. Phosphorylation activates or deactivates many protein enzymes....
works as a switch to activate protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s and regulate various cellular processes. Edwin Krebs is not to be confused with Hans Adolf Krebs
Hans Adolf Krebs
Sir Hans Adolf Krebs was a German-born British physician and biochemist. Krebs is best known for his identification of two important metabolic cycles: the urea cycle and the citric acid cycle...
(1900–1981), who was also a Nobel Prize winning biochemist and who discovered the citric acid cycle
Citric acid cycle
The citric acid cycle — also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle , the Krebs cycle, or the Szent-Györgyi-Krebs cycle — is a series of chemical reactions which is used by all aerobic living organisms to generate energy through the oxidization of acetate derived from carbohydrates, fats and...
, which is also known as the Krebs cycle.
Krebs was born in Lansing, Iowa
Lansing, Iowa
Lansing is a city in Lansing Township, Allamakee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,012 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lansing's longitude and latitude coordinatesin decimal form are 43.361525, -91.223378...
, the third child of William Carl Krebs, a Presbyterian minister and Louise Helen (Stegeman) Krebs. The family moved frequently due to the nature of his father's work, though they settled in Greenville, Illinois
Greenville, Illinois
Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, east of St. Louis. The estimated population as of July 2009 is 7,284. The population was 6,955 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bond County....
when Krebs was six and remained there until his father's unexpected death in 1933. Louise Krebs decided to move her family to Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
, where Krebs's elder brothers were attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. Krebs attended Urbana High School
Urbana High School (Illinois)
-History:Urbana High School's current building was built in 1914. It was designed by architect Joseph Royer who also designed many other area buildings such as the Urbana Free Library and the Champaign County Court House...
, and enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1936. In his fourth year of study Krebs had decided to either pursue a higher degree in organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
or study medicine. Receiving a scholarship to attend Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, he chose the latter.
The School of Medicine afforded Krebs the opportunity to train as a physician as well as to gain experience in medical research. Following graduation in 1943, he undertook an 18-month residency at Barnes Hospital
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the adult teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, and is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is consistently rated one of the top hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report...
in St. Louis and then went on active duty as a medical officer in the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Krebs was discharged from the Navy in 1946 and was unable to immediately return to hospital work; he was advised to study basic science instead. He chose to study biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
and was postdoctoral fellow to Carl and Gerty Cori
Gerty Cori
Gerty Theresa Cori was an American biochemist who became the third woman—and first American woman—to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Cori was born in Prague...
, working on the interaction of protamine
Protamine
Protamines are small, arginine-rich, nuclear proteins that replace histones late in the haploid phase of spermatogenesis and are believed essential for sperm head condensation and DNA stabilization. They may allow for denser packaging of DNA in spermatozoon than histones, but they must be...
with rabbit muscle phosphorylase
Phosphorylase
Phosphorylases are enzymes that catalyze the addition of a phosphate group from an inorganic phosphate to an acceptor.They include allosteric enzymes that catalyze the production of glucose-1-phosphate from a glucan such as glycogen, starch or maltodextrin. Phosphorylase is also a common name used...
. At the completion of his two years' study, Krebs decided to continue his career as a biochemist.
In 1948 Krebs accepted a position as assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, Seattle. When Edmond H. Fischer
Edmond H. Fischer
Edmond H. Fischer is a Swiss American biochemist. He and his collaborator Edwin G. Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation works as a switch to activate proteins and regulate various cellular processes.-Early life:Fischer...
arrived at the Department in 1953, the pair decided to work on the enzymology of phosphorylase
Phosphorylase
Phosphorylases are enzymes that catalyze the addition of a phosphate group from an inorganic phosphate to an acceptor.They include allosteric enzymes that catalyze the production of glucose-1-phosphate from a glucan such as glycogen, starch or maltodextrin. Phosphorylase is also a common name used...
. During the course of their study they were able to observe the mechanism by which interconversion of the two forms of phosphorylase takes place: reversible protein phosphorylation.
Explained simply, reverse protein phosphorylation works like this: a protein kinase
Protein kinase
A protein kinase is a kinase enzyme that modifies other proteins by chemically adding phosphate groups to them . Phosphorylation usually results in a functional change of the target protein by changing enzyme activity, cellular location, or association with other proteins...
moves a phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
group from adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleoside triphosphate used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism...
(ATP) to a protein. The shape and the function of the protein is altered enabling it to take part in some biological process. When the protein has completed its role, a protein phosphatase
Phosphatase
A phosphatase is an enzyme that removes a phosphate group from its substrate by hydrolysing phosphoric acid monoesters into a phosphate ion and a molecule with a free hydroxyl group . This action is directly opposite to that of phosphorylases and kinases, which attach phosphate groups to their...
removes the phosphate and the protein reverts to its original state. This cycle takes place to control an enormous number of metabolic processes. For the key discovery of reversible protein phosphorylation, Fischer and Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1992.
Krebs's interest in teaching and administration led him to leave the University of Washington to become the founding chairman of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
. In 1977 he returned to the University of Washington as Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
.
Krebs died on December 21, 2009. He is survived by his wife Virginia and three children.
External links
- Hughes, R. 1998. After the Prize
- Krebs, E.G. Autobiography
- The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
- University of Washington Columns Magazine Obituary