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Abstract
Diabetes has been known since antiquity. We present here a historical perspective on the concepts and ideas regarding the physiopathology of the disease, on the progressive focus on the pancreas, in particular on the islets discovered by Langerhans in 1869, leading to the iconic experiment of Minkowski and von Mering in 1889 showing that pancreatectomy in a dog induced polyuria and diabetes mellitus. Subsequently, multiple investigators searched for the active substance of the pancreas and some managed to produce extracts that lowered blood glucose and decreased polyuria in pancreatectomized dogs but were too toxic to be administered to patients. The breakthrough came 100 years ago, when the team of Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and James Collip working in the Department of Physiology headed by John Macleod at the University of Toronto managed to obtain pancreatic extracts that could be used to treat patients and rescue them from the edge of death by starvation, the only treatment then available. This achievement was quickly recognized by the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Banting and Macleod in 1923. At 32, Banting remains the youngest awardee of this prize. Here we discuss the work that led to the discovery and its main breakthroughs, the human characters involved in an increasingly dysfunctional relationship, the controversies that followed the Nobel Prize, and the debate as to who actually "discovered" insulin. We also discuss the early commercial development and progress in insulin crystallization in the decade or so following the Nobel Prize.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Rostène
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, F-75012 Paris, France
| | - Pierre De Meyts
- de Duve Institute, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.,Novo Nordisk A/S, DK-2760 Maaloev, Denmark
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2
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Cao J, Lopez R, Thacker JM, Moon JY, Jiang C, Morris SNS, Bauer JH, Tao P, Mason RP, Lippert AR. Chemiluminescent Probes for Imaging H 2S in Living Animals. Chem Sci 2015; 6:1979-1985. [PMID: 25709805 PMCID: PMC4335805 DOI: 10.1039/c4sc03516j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2014] [Accepted: 12/31/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is an endogenous mediator of human health and disease, but precise measurement in living cells and animals remains a considerable challenge. We report the total chemical synthesis and characterization of three 1,2-dioxetane chemiluminescent reaction-based H2S probes, CHS-1, CHS-2, and CHS-3. Upon treatment with H2S at physiological pH, these probes display instantaneous light emission that is sustained for over an hour with high selectivity against other reactive sulphur, oxygen, and nitrogen species. Analysis of the phenol/phenolate equilibrium and atomic charges has provided a generally applicable predictive model to design improved chemiluminescent probes. The utility of these chemiluminescent reagents was demonstrated by applying CHS-3 to detect cellularly generated H2S using a multi-well plate reader and to image H2S in living mice using CCD camera technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Cao
- Department of Chemistry , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA .
- Center for Drug Discovery , Design, and Delivery (CD4) , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA
| | - R. Lopez
- Laboratory of Prognostic Radiology , Pre-clinical Imaging Section , Department of Radiology , UT Southwestern Medical Center , Dallas , TX 75390-9058 , USA
| | - J. M. Thacker
- Department of Chemistry , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA .
| | - J. Y. Moon
- Department of Chemistry , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA .
| | - C. Jiang
- Hockaday School , Dallas , TX 75229 , USA
| | - S. N. S. Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA
| | - J. H. Bauer
- Center for Drug Discovery , Design, and Delivery (CD4) , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA
- Department of Biological Sciences , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA
| | - P. Tao
- Department of Chemistry , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA .
- Center for Drug Discovery , Design, and Delivery (CD4) , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA
| | - R. P. Mason
- Laboratory of Prognostic Radiology , Pre-clinical Imaging Section , Department of Radiology , UT Southwestern Medical Center , Dallas , TX 75390-9058 , USA
| | - A. R. Lippert
- Department of Chemistry , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA .
- Center for Drug Discovery , Design, and Delivery (CD4) , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX 75275-0314 , USA
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Olson KR, DeLeon ER, Liu F. Controversies and conundrums in hydrogen sulfide biology. Nitric Oxide 2014; 41:11-26. [PMID: 24928561 DOI: 10.1016/j.niox.2014.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2013] [Revised: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 05/30/2014] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) signaling has been implicated in physiological processes in practically all organ systems studied to date. At times the excitement of this new field has outpaced the technical expertise or practical knowledge with which to accurately assess these advancements. Recently, the myriad of proposed H2S actions has spawned interest in using indicators of H2S metabolism, especially plasma H2S concentrations, as a means of identifying a variety of pathophysiological conditions or to predict clinical outcomes. While this is a noteworthy endeavor, there are a number of contraindications to this practice at this time. First, there is little consensus regarding normal, i.e., "physiological" concentrations of H2S in either plasma or tissue. In fact, it has been shown that the methods most often employed for these measurements are associated with substantial artifact. Second, interactions, or presumed lack thereof, of H2S with other biomolecules (e.g., O2, H2O2, pH, etc.) or analytical reagents (e.g., reducing reagents, N-ethylmaleimide, phenylarsine, etc.) are often assumed but not evaluated. Third, the experimental design and/or statistical analyses may not be sufficient to justify using H2S concentration in tissue or blood as a predictive biomarker of pathophysiology. In this study, we first briefly review the problems associated with plasma and tissue H2S measurements and the associated errors and we provide some simple methods to evaluate whether the data obtained is physiologically relevant. Second we provide a brief analysis of H2S interactions with the above biomolecules. Third, we provide a statistical tool with which to determine the clinical applicability of H2S measurements. It is hoped that these points will provide a rational background for future work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth R Olson
- Indiana University School of Medicine - South Bend, South Bend, IN 46617, United States.
| | - Eric R DeLeon
- Indiana University School of Medicine - South Bend, South Bend, IN 46617, United States; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
| | - Fang Liu
- Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
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Abstract
The Nobel Prize for chemistry of 1955 was awarded to Vincent du Vigneaud. After a brief outline of his career and accomplishments, some archive material related to this decision of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is presented. Other archive studies have shown that du Vigneaud was also considered for the corresponding prize in physiology or medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulf Ragnarsson
- Department of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, University of Uppsala, Biomedical Center, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden.
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