Bryant’s JBC Paper Honored
Donald A. Bryant has received a prize for
the best basic research paper of 2007
from the Rebeiz Foundation. The paper for
which the award was given was published
in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. A
goal of the Rebeiz Foundation for Basic
Research is to promote chloroplast and
bioengineering research.
Bryant is the Ernest C. Pollard Professor
of Biotechnology at Pennsylvania State University. He shares the
award with Aline Gomez Maqueo Chew, a former Ph.D. student in
his laboratory, with whom he co-authored the paper.
Bryant’s research focuses on photosynthesis in bacteria. His
long-term objectives are to understand the structure, function,
assembly, and regulation of expression of the photosynthetic
apparatuses of cyanobacteria and green-sulfur bacteria.
Bryant has helped to sequence the genomes of 3 species
of cyanobacteria, 13 species of green-sulfur bacteria, 7 species of filamentous anoxygenic phototrophs, and 1 acidobac-terium. These data have helped him to discover and characterize important genes that are involved in photosynthesis. The
paper for which he won the Rebeiz Foundation award is titled
“Characterization of a plant-like protochlorophyllide a divinyl
reductase in green sulfur bacteria” (JBC 282, 2967-2975).
Chen Receives New
Investigator Award
Xi Chen, an assistant professor of chemistry
at the University of California, Davis, has
received the American Chemical Society’s
Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry New
Investigator Award. The award, which
acknowledges outstanding contributions to
research in carbohydrate chemistry by
scientists in their first independent faculty
position, was presented to Chen during the
fall ACS national meeting in Philadelphia.
The main focus of Chen’s research is employing molecular biology and enzymatic methods to synthesize complex carbohydrates
and glycoconjugates related to human health, as well as biochemical characterization of involved enzymes and products. Four
major research areas of the lab are as follows: 1) combinatorial
biosynthesis of pathogenic bacterial capsular polysaccharide vaccines; 2) development of carbohydrate-based cancer vaccines;
3) synthesis of homogeneous glycoproteins based on chemo-enzymatic methods; and 4) investigation on the interaction of carbohydrates and proteins using synthetic carbohydrate probes.
Lefkowitz and O’Malley
to Be Awarded National
Medal of Science
President George W. Bush named Robert
J. Lefkowitz, a Howard Hughes Medical
Institute investigator at Duke University
Medical Center, and Bert W. O’Malley,
Chair, Molecular and Cellular Biology,
Baylor College of Medicine, recipients of
the National Medal of Science for
contributions to the biological sciences.
LEFKOWITz President Bush presented Lefkowitz
and O’Malley with the medal, which is
the nation’s highest honor for science,
at a ceremony at the White House in
September.
The National Medal of Science was
established by Congress in 1959 as a
Presidential Award to be given to individuals “deserving of special recognition by
O’MALLEY reason of their outstanding contributions
to knowledge in the physical, biological,
mathematical, or engineering sciences.” This recognition now
also includes the social and behavioral sciences. A committee
of 12 scientists and engineers is appointed by the president to
evaluate nominees for the award.
Lefkowitz’s work with G protein-coupled receptors, the
largest and most pervasive family of cell receptors, began in
1982 with the identification of the gene for the ß-adrenergic
receptor, which helps regulate the body’s fight-or-flight response
by reacting to epinephrine. Shortly thereafter, he discovered
seven additional adrenergic receptors. These receptors—and all
G-protein receptors—share a basic structure, in which the molecule weaves its way back and forth seven times across a cell’s
membrane. When the portion of the molecule that lies outside
the cell connects with the receptor’s favored signaling molecule,
the internal portions of the molecule can trigger the appropriate
cellular response.
O’Malley is being recognized for his pioneering work on the
molecular mechanisms of steroid hormone action and hormone
receptors. His work has greatly contributed to the understanding
of the role of steroid hormones in normal development and in
diseases, including cancer.
