Vincent du Vigneaud
Vincent du Vigneaud | |
---|---|
Born | May 18, 1901 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Died | December 11, 1978 | (aged 77)
Nationality | United States |
Alma mater | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Rochester |
Known for | synthesis of oxytocin and vasopressin |
Awards | Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1948) Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1955) Willard Gibbs Award (1956) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Organic chemistry, Peptide synthesis |
Institutions | Johns Hopkins University George Washington University Cornell University |
Thesis | The Sulfur of Insulin (1927) |
Doctoral advisor | John R. Murlin |
Influenced | Panayotis Katsoyannis Iphigenia Photaki |
Vincent du Vigneaud (May 18, 1901 – December 11, 1978) was an American biochemist. He was recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone,"[1] a reference to his work on the peptide hormone oxytocin.[2]
Biography[]
Vincent du Vigneaud was born in Chicago in 1901 and graduated from Schurz High School in 1918. He began studying chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was influenced by lectures of Carl Shipp Marvel. After receiving his MS in 1924 he joined DuPont.
He married Zella Zon Ford on June 12, 1924. Restarting his academic career in 1925, du Vigneaud joined the group of at the University of Rochester for his PhD thesis. He graduated in 1927 with his work The Sulfur of Insulin.
After a post-doctoral position with John Jacob Abel at Johns Hopkins University Medical School (1927–1928), he traveled to Europe as National Research Council Fellow in 1928-1929, where he worked with Max Bergmann and Leonidas Zervas at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Leather Research in Dresden, and with George Barger at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He then returned to the University of Illinois as a professor.[3]
In 1932 he started working at the George Washington University Medical School in Washington, D.C. and in 1938 at the Cornell Medical College in New York City, where he stayed until his emeritation in 1967. Following retirement, he held a position at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
In 1974 du Vigneaud suffered from a stroke which prevented him from resuming his academic career. He died in 1978, one year after his wife's death in 1977.
Career[]
His career was characterized by an interest in sulfur-containing peptides, proteins, and especially peptide hormones. Even before his Nobel-Prize-winning work[1] on elucidating and synthesizing oxytocin[2] and vasopressin via manipulating the AVP gene, he had established a reputation from his research on insulin, biotin, transmethylation, and penicillin.[4]
He also carried out a series of structure-activity relationships for oxytocin and vasopressin, perhaps the first of their type for peptides. That work culminated in the publication of a book entitled A Trail of Research in Sulphur Chemistry and Metabolism and Related Field.
Legacy[]
He joined Alpha Chi Sigma while at the University of Illinois in 1930.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1955". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b du Vigneaud, Vincent; Ressler, Charlotte; Swan, John M.; Roberts, Carleton W.; Katsoyannis, Panayotis G. (1954). "The Synthesis of Oxytocin". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 76 (12): 3115–3121. doi:10.1021/ja01641a004.
- ^ Hofmann, Klaus. "Vincent du Vigneaud" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- ^ Ragnarsson, Ulf (2007). "The Nobel trail of Vincent du Vigneaud". Journal of Peptide Science. 13 (7) (published Jul 2007). pp. 431–3. doi:10.1002/psc.864. PMID 17554806.
External links[]
- Vincent du Vigneaud on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1955 A Trail of Sulfa Research: From Insulin to Oxytocin
- http://weill.cornell.edu/archives/pdf/personal_aids/DuVigneaud.pdf
- 1901 births
- 1978 deaths
- American biochemists
- American Nobel laureates
- Cornell University faculty
- Nobel laureates in Chemistry
- Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
- University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni
- Academics of the University of Edinburgh
- George Washington University faculty
- Scientists from Chicago
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Carl Schurz High School alumni