Edwin G. Krebs

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Edwin Gerhard Krebs
University of Washington, Seattle
University of California, Davis
Washington University School of Medicine
Not to be confused with Hans Krebs (biochemist), who was also a Nobel Prize–winning biochemist and who discovered the citric acid cycle.

Edwin Gerhard Krebs (June 6, 1918 – December 21, 2009) was an American biochemist. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia University in 1989 together with Alfred Gilman 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 proteins and regulate various cellular processes.

Early life and education

Krebs was born 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

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.

Research work

In 1948 Krebs accepted a position as assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle.[1] 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, in reversible protein phosphorylation a protein kinase takes a phosphate group from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and attaches it to a specific site on a protein, introducing both extra mass and negative charge at that site. This can alter the protein's shape and turn its function in a biological process up or down, either by changing its activity or its ability to bind to another protein. The protein can be converted back to its original state by a protein phosphatase that removes the phosphate. This cycle controls numerous metabolic processes, and plays a central role in the regulation of cell division, shape, and motility. Derangement of specific protein phosphorylation pathways is important in human disease, including cancer and diabetes. Fischer and Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for the discovery of reversible protein phosphorylation.

Later life and death

Krebs's interest in teaching and administration led him to leave the University of Washington to become the founding chairman of the department of biochemistry at the University of California, Davis. In 1977 he returned to the University of Washington as chairman of the department of pharmacology.[2]

Krebs was hearing impaired.[3]

Krebs died on December 21, 2009. His wife, Virginia, died in 2018.[4] He is survived by three children.[5][6]

References and notes

  1. ^ "Edwin Krebs".
  2. ^ "Edwin G. Krebs". UC Davis Health. 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  3. ^ "Edwin G. Krebs | Biology Inclusion Committee | Washington University in St. Louis". sites.wustl.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  4. ^ "Virginia Krebs Obituary (1923 - 2018)". Legacy.com. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  5. Hearst Corporation. 2009-12-23. Archived from the original
    on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  6. ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (2009-12-24). "Edwin Krebs Dies at 91; Discovered a Crucial Bodily Process". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-25.

Bibliography

External links
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