William Astbury
Encyclopedia
William Thomas Astbury FRS (also Bill Astbury; 25 February 1898, Longton
— 4 June 1961, Leeds
) was an English
physicist
and molecular biologist
who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. His work on keratin
provided the foundation for Linus Pauling
's discovery of the alpha helix
. He also studied the structure for DNA
in 1937 and made the first step in the elucidation of its structure.
. His father, William Edwin Astbury, was a potter and provided comfortably for his family. Astbury also had a younger brother, Norman, with whom he shared a love of music.
Astbury might well have become a potter but, luckily, won a scholarship to Longton High School
, where his interests were shaped by the Headmaster and second master, both chemists. After becoming Head boy and winning the Duke of Sutherland's Gold Medal, Astbury won the only local scholarship available and went up to Jesus College, Cambridge
.
After two terms at Cambridge, his studies were interrupted by service during the First World War. A poor medical rating following appendectomy
resulted in his posting in 1917 to Cork
, Ireland
with the Royal Army Medical Corps
. He later returned to Cambridge and finished his last year with a specialization in physics
.
After graduating from Cambridge, Astbury worked with William Bragg
, first at University College London
and then, in 1923, at the Davy-Faraday Laboratory at the Royal Institution
in London
. Fellow students included many eminent scientists, including Kathleen Lonsdale
and J. D. Bernal
and others. Astbury showed great enthusiasm for his studies and published papers in "classic crystallography
, such as the structure of tartaric acid
.
where he studied the properties of fibrous substances such as keratin
and collagen
with funding from the textile industry. (Wool is made of keratin.) These substances did not produce sharp patterns of spots like crystals, but the patterns provided physical limits on any proposed structures.
In the early 1930s, Astbury showed that there were drastic changes in the diffraction of moist wool or hair fibers as they are stretched significantly (100%). The data suggested that the unstretched fibers had a coiled molecular structure with a characteristic repeat of 5.1 Å (=0.51 nm). Astbury proposed that (1) the unstretched protein molecules formed a helix (which he called the α-form); and (2) the stretching caused the helix to uncoil, forming an extended state (which he called the β-form). Although incorrect in their details, Astbury's models were correct in essence and correspond to modern elements of secondary structure
, the α-helix and the β-strand (Astbury's nomenclature was kept), which were developed twenty years later by Linus Pauling
and Robert Corey
in 1951. Hans Neurath
was the first to show that Astbury's models could not be correct in detail, because they involved clashes of atoms. Interestingly, Neurath's paper and Astbury's data inspired H. S. Taylor
(1941,1942) and Maurice Huggins
(1943) to propose models of keratin that are very close to the modern α-helix.
In 1931, Astbury was also the first to propose that mainchain-mainchain hydrogen bonds (i.e., hydrogen bonds between the backbone amide groups) contributed to stabilizing protein structures. His initial insight was taken up enthusiastically by several researchers, including Linus Pauling
.
Astbury's worked moved on to X-ray studies of many proteins (including myosin
, epidermin and fibrin
) and he was able to deduce from the diffraction patterns that the molecules of these substances were coiled and folded.
In 1937 Torbjörn Caspersson of Sweden sent him well prepared samples of DNA
from calf thymus. The fact that DNA produced a diffraction pattern indicated that it also had a regular structure and it might be feasible to deduce it. Astbury reported that DNA's structure repeated every 2.7 nanometres and that the bases lay flat, stacked, 0.34 nanometres apart. At a symposium in 1938 at Cold Spring Harbor
, Astbury pointed out that the 0.34 nanometre spacing was the same as amino acids in polypeptide chains. (The currently accepted value for the spacing of the bases in B-form of DNA is 0.332 nm.)
In 1946 Astbury presented a paper at a symposium in Cambridge
in which he said: "Biosynthesis is supremely a question of fitting molecules or parts of molecules against another, and one of the great biological developments of our time is the realisation that probably the most fundamental interaction of all is that between the proteins and the nucleic acids." He also said that the spacing between the nucleotide
s and the spacing of amino acids in proteins "was not an arithmetical accident".
Astbury's was unable to propose the correct structure of DNA from his rudimentary data. However in 1952 Linus Pauling
used Astbury's insufficient data to propose a structure for DNA, which was also incorrect. Nevertheless Astbury's insights led directly to the work of Maurice Wilkins
and Rosalind Franklin
and from there to the structure of DNA devised by Francis Crick
and James D. Watson
in 1953.
In later life he was given many awards and honorary degrees.
,
imagination
and enthusiasm
. He foresaw correctly the tremendous
impact of molecular biology
and transmitted his vision to his students,
"his euphoric evangelizing zeal transforming laboratory routine into a great adventure" (Bailey reference below). Astbury's enthusiasm may also account for an occasional lack of scientific caution observable in his work; Astbury could make speculative interpretations sound plausible.
Astbury was an excellent writer and lecturer; his works are characterized by
remarkable clarity and an easy-going, natural manner (which might require
considerable work on his part!). He also enjoyed music, playing both piano
and violin.
Astbury met Frances Gould when he was stationed in Cork, Ireland with the
Royal Army Medical Corps
during World War I
. They married in 1922
and had a son Bill and a daughter Maureen.
Longton, Staffordshire
Longton is a southern district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and is known locally as the "Neck End" of the city. Longton is one of the six towns of "the Potteries" which formed the City of Stoke-on-Trent in 1925.-History:...
— 4 June 1961, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and molecular biologist
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. His work on keratin
Keratin
Keratin refers to a family of fibrous structural proteins. Keratin is the key of structural material making up the outer layer of human skin. It is also the key structural component of hair and nails...
provided the foundation for Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
's discovery of the alpha helix
Alpha helix
A common motif in the secondary structure of proteins, the alpha helix is a right-handed coiled or spiral conformation, in which every backbone N-H group donates a hydrogen bond to the backbone C=O group of the amino acid four residues earlier...
. He also studied the structure for DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
in 1937 and made the first step in the elucidation of its structure.
Early life
Astbury was the fourth child of seven, born in Longton, StaffordshireLongton, Staffordshire
Longton is a southern district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and is known locally as the "Neck End" of the city. Longton is one of the six towns of "the Potteries" which formed the City of Stoke-on-Trent in 1925.-History:...
. His father, William Edwin Astbury, was a potter and provided comfortably for his family. Astbury also had a younger brother, Norman, with whom he shared a love of music.
Astbury might well have become a potter but, luckily, won a scholarship to Longton High School
Longton High School
-History:Before the school moved to a new site in Sandon Road, it was situated in Trentham Road and also used part of the Sutherland Institute.-Grammar school:...
, where his interests were shaped by the Headmaster and second master, both chemists. After becoming Head boy and winning the Duke of Sutherland's Gold Medal, Astbury won the only local scholarship available and went up to Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
.
After two terms at Cambridge, his studies were interrupted by service during the First World War. A poor medical rating following appendectomy
resulted in his posting in 1917 to Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
with the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
. He later returned to Cambridge and finished his last year with a specialization in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
.
After graduating from Cambridge, Astbury worked with William Bragg
William Henry Bragg
Sir William Henry Bragg OM, KBE, PRS was a British physicist, chemist, mathematician and active sportsman who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son William Lawrence Bragg - the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics...
, first at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and then, in 1923, at the Davy-Faraday Laboratory at the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Fellow students included many eminent scientists, including Kathleen Lonsdale
Kathleen Lonsdale
Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, DBE FRS was a crystallographer, who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929, and hexachlorobenzene by Fourier spectral methods in 1931...
and J. D. Bernal
J. D. Bernal
John Desmond Bernal FRS was one of Britain’s best known and most controversial scientists, called "Sage" by his friends, and known for pioneering X-ray crystallography in molecular biology.-Origin and education:His family was Irish, of mixed Italian and Spanish/Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin...
and others. Astbury showed great enthusiasm for his studies and published papers in "classic crystallography
Crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
, such as the structure of tartaric acid
Tartaric acid
Tartaric acid is a white crystalline diprotic organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds; is commonly combined with baking soda to function as a leavening agent in recipes, and is one of the main acids found in wine. It is added to other foods to...
.
X-ray diffraction studies of fibrous proteins
In 1928, Astbury was given a lectureship at the University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
where he studied the properties of fibrous substances such as keratin
Keratin
Keratin refers to a family of fibrous structural proteins. Keratin is the key of structural material making up the outer layer of human skin. It is also the key structural component of hair and nails...
and collagen
Collagen
Collagen is a group of naturally occurring proteins found in animals, especially in the flesh and connective tissues of mammals. It is the main component of connective tissue, and is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content...
with funding from the textile industry. (Wool is made of keratin.) These substances did not produce sharp patterns of spots like crystals, but the patterns provided physical limits on any proposed structures.
In the early 1930s, Astbury showed that there were drastic changes in the diffraction of moist wool or hair fibers as they are stretched significantly (100%). The data suggested that the unstretched fibers had a coiled molecular structure with a characteristic repeat of 5.1 Å (=0.51 nm). Astbury proposed that (1) the unstretched protein molecules formed a helix (which he called the α-form); and (2) the stretching caused the helix to uncoil, forming an extended state (which he called the β-form). Although incorrect in their details, Astbury's models were correct in essence and correspond to modern elements of secondary structure
Secondary structure
In biochemistry and structural biology, secondary structure is the general three-dimensional form of local segments of biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids...
, the α-helix and the β-strand (Astbury's nomenclature was kept), which were developed twenty years later by Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
and Robert Corey
Robert Corey
Robert Brainard Corey was an American biochemist, mostly known for his role in discovery of the α-helix and the β-sheet with Linus Pauling. Also working with Pauling was Herman Branson. Their discoveries were remarkably correct, with even the bond lengths being accurate until about 40 years later...
in 1951. Hans Neurath
Hans Neurath
Hans Neurath was a biochemist, a leader in protein chemistry and the founding chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle.-Early life:...
was the first to show that Astbury's models could not be correct in detail, because they involved clashes of atoms. Interestingly, Neurath's paper and Astbury's data inspired H. S. Taylor
Hugh Stott Taylor
Hugh Stott Taylor was an English chemist primarily interested in catalysis. In 1928, in a landmark contribution to catalytic theory, Taylor suggested that a catalyzed chemical reaction is not catalyzed over the entire solid surface of the catalyst but only at certain ‘active sites’ or centers.He...
(1941,1942) and Maurice Huggins
Maurice Loyal Huggins
Maurice Loyal Huggins was a scientist who independently conceived the idea of hydrogen bonding and who was an early advocate for their role in stabilizing protein secondary structure...
(1943) to propose models of keratin that are very close to the modern α-helix.
In 1931, Astbury was also the first to propose that mainchain-mainchain hydrogen bonds (i.e., hydrogen bonds between the backbone amide groups) contributed to stabilizing protein structures. His initial insight was taken up enthusiastically by several researchers, including Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
.
Astbury's worked moved on to X-ray studies of many proteins (including myosin
Myosin
Myosins comprise a family of ATP-dependent motor proteins and are best known for their role in muscle contraction and their involvement in a wide range of other eukaryotic motility processes. They are responsible for actin-based motility. The term was originally used to describe a group of similar...
, epidermin and fibrin
Fibrin
Fibrin is a fibrous, non-globular protein involved in the clotting of blood. It is a fibrillar protein that is polymerised to form a "mesh" that forms a hemostatic plug or clot over a wound site....
) and he was able to deduce from the diffraction patterns that the molecules of these substances were coiled and folded.
In 1937 Torbjörn Caspersson of Sweden sent him well prepared samples of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
from calf thymus. The fact that DNA produced a diffraction pattern indicated that it also had a regular structure and it might be feasible to deduce it. Astbury reported that DNA's structure repeated every 2.7 nanometres and that the bases lay flat, stacked, 0.34 nanometres apart. At a symposium in 1938 at Cold Spring Harbor
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics, genomics and bioinformatics. The Laboratory has a broad educational mission, including the recently established Watson School of Biological Sciences. It...
, Astbury pointed out that the 0.34 nanometre spacing was the same as amino acids in polypeptide chains. (The currently accepted value for the spacing of the bases in B-form of DNA is 0.332 nm.)
In 1946 Astbury presented a paper at a symposium in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in which he said: "Biosynthesis is supremely a question of fitting molecules or parts of molecules against another, and one of the great biological developments of our time is the realisation that probably the most fundamental interaction of all is that between the proteins and the nucleic acids." He also said that the spacing between the nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
s and the spacing of amino acids in proteins "was not an arithmetical accident".
Astbury's was unable to propose the correct structure of DNA from his rudimentary data. However in 1952 Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
used Astbury's insufficient data to propose a structure for DNA, which was also incorrect. Nevertheless Astbury's insights led directly to the work of Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS was a New Zealand-born English physicist and molecular biologist, and Nobel Laureate whose research contributed to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and to the development of radar...
and Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite...
and from there to the structure of DNA devised by Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
and James D. Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
in 1953.
In later life he was given many awards and honorary degrees.
Personal qualities and history
Astbury was known for his unfailing cheerfulness, idealismIdealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
,
imagination
Imagination
Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
and enthusiasm
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, defines enthusiasm as "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or...
. He foresaw correctly the tremendous
impact of molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
and transmitted his vision to his students,
"his euphoric evangelizing zeal transforming laboratory routine into a great adventure" (Bailey reference below). Astbury's enthusiasm may also account for an occasional lack of scientific caution observable in his work; Astbury could make speculative interpretations sound plausible.
Astbury was an excellent writer and lecturer; his works are characterized by
remarkable clarity and an easy-going, natural manner (which might require
considerable work on his part!). He also enjoyed music, playing both piano
and violin.
Astbury met Frances Gould when he was stationed in Cork, Ireland with the
Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. They married in 1922
and had a son Bill and a daughter Maureen.
Further reading
- Bernal, J. D. (1963). "William Thomas Astbury. 1898-1961." Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal SocietyBiographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal SocietyThe Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society is an academic journal published annually by the Royal Society. It publishes obituaries of Fellows of the Royal Society...
. v. 9, p. 1-35.
External links
- Astbury Centre for Structural Biology
- Key Participants: William T. Astbury – Linus Pauling and the Race for DNA: A Documentary History