I am currently taking a molecular cell biology class, which explains my interest in the news about two U.S. chemists, Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka, being awarded the Nobel Prize for their study of G protein coupled receptors (by using radioactivity and imaging of the adrenergic receptor).
Dr. Lefkowitz is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Kobilka is a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Link to original news article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49354751/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/us-chemists-win-nobel-study-protein-receptors/#.UHdox1GrGSp
Here are citations/links to some of their papers:
Bouvier, M., Hnatowich, M., Collins, S., Kobilka, B.K., Deblasi, A., Lefkowitz, R.J., & Caron, M.G.
Expression of a human cDNA encoding the beta 2-adrenergic receptor in Chinese hamster fibroblasts (CHW): functionality and regulation of the expressed receptors. Mol Pharmacol, ;33(2):133-9, 1998.
Expression of a human cDNA encoding the beta 2-adrenergic receptor in Chinese hamster fibroblasts (CHW): functionality and regulation of the expressed receptors. Mol Pharmacol, ;33(2):133-9, 1998.
Lefkowitz, R.J. Historical review: A brief history and personal retrospective of seven-transmembrane receptors. TRENDS in Pharmacological Sciences Vol.25 No.8 August 2004
http://www.cse.nd.edu/courses/cse598k/www/dropbox/jtan1/FinalProject/GPCRs.pdf
http://www.gmca.anl.gov/publication/Rasmussen-Kobilka_et.al._Nature_2007.pdf
Information about the Nobel Prize:
The Nobel Prize is awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. It's an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. It started in 1901, between 1901 and 2011, there have been 549 Nobel Prizes awarded. The Nobel laureates receive a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount. They attend an award ceremony in Stockholm. The prize money comes from the fortune of Alfred Nobel whom the award is named after.
Information was obtained from: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/about/
