Paul Greengard

Paul Greengard (b. December 11, 1925) is an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the molecular and cellular function of neurons. In 2000, Greengard, Arvid Carlsson and Eric Kandel were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. He is currently Vincent Astor Professor at Rockefeller University [1].

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Research

Greengard's research has focused on events inside the neuron caused by neurotransmitters. Specifically, Greengard and his fellow researchers studied the behavior of second messenger cascades that transform the docking of a neurotransmitter with a receptor into permanent changes in the neuron. In a series of experiments, Greengard and his colleagues showed that when dopamine interacts with a receptor on the cell membrane of a neuron, it causes an increase in cyclic AMP inside the cell. This increase of cyclic AMP, in turn activates a protein called protein kinase A, which turns the function other proteins on or off by adding phosphate groups in a reaction known as phosphorylation. The proteins activated by phosphorylation can then perform a number of changes in the cell: transcribing DNA to make new proteins, moving more receptors to the synapse (and thus increasing the neuron's sensitivity), or moving ion channels to the cell surface (and thus increasing the cell's excitability). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2000 "for showing how neurotransmitters act on the cell and can activate a central molecule known as DARPP-32"

Biography

Greengard was born in New York City. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy as an electronics technician at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on an early warning system against Japanese kamikaze planes. After the war, he attended Hamilton College where he graduated in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics. He decided against graduate school in physics because most post-war physics research was focusing on nuclear weapons, and instead became interested in biophysics. He began his graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University in the lab of Haldan Keffer Hartline. Inspired by a lecture by Alan Hodgkin, Greengard began work on the molecular and cellular function of neurons. In 1953, Greengard received his PhD and began postdoctoral work at the University of London, Cambridge University, and the University of Amsterdam. As a professor, he has worked at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Yale University, and The Rockefeller University.

Pearl Meister Greengard Prize

Greengard used his Nobel Prize honorarium to fund the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, an award for women scientists named after his mother and established in 2004. The award is to combat discrimination against women in science, since, as Greengard observed, "[women] are not yet receiving awards and honors at a level commensurate with their achievements."^[1] The $50,000 annual prize is awarded to an outstanding woman conducting biomedical research.^[2]

Trivia

Greengard won first place in a potato-sack race at a Boy Scout Jamboree in New York.^[3]

Awards and Honors

• Nobel Prize (2000)
• Member (elected) (2006), Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

References

1. ^ Betsy Hanson, "The Birth of an Award", Benchmarks, Dec. 17, 2004, available at http://www.rockefeller.edu/benchmarks/benchmarks_121704_c.php .
2. ^ Dreifus, Claudia. He Turned His Nobel Into a Prize for Women. New York Times. Retrieved on September 26, 2006.
3. ^ "20 Things You Didn't Know About the Nobel Prizes", Discover, October 2006.

Sources

• Les Prix Nobel. 2001. The Nobel Prizes 2000, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, Nobel Foundation: Stockholm.