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Synthetic Crystalline Bovine Insulin
In 1965, Chinese scientists first synthesized crystalline bovine insulin (), which was the first functional crystalline protein being fully synthesized in the world. Research on synthesizing bovine insulin started on 1958. Members in the research group were from the Chemistry Department of Beijing University (), Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, CAS () and Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS (). Insulin is a protein (peptide) consisting of two chain, A and B. Chain A consists of 21 amino acid residues while chain consists of 30 amino acid residues. The main function of insulin is to regulate the concentrate of sugar in blood. Type 1 diabetes are caused by dysfunction on the synthesis or secretory of insulin while injecting insulin can treat type 1 diabetes. In 1979, Wang Yinglai, the project's lead scientist, nominated Niu Jingyi, a team member who had made significant contributions, for the Nobel Chemistry Prize, but the nomination was unsuccessful. See also * Helmu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insulin
Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and protein by promoting the absorption of glucose from the blood into cells of the liver, fat cell, fat, and skeletal muscles. In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen, via glycogenesis, or Fatty acid metabolism#Glycolytic end products are used in the conversion of carbohydrates into fatty acids, fats (triglycerides), via lipogenesis; in the liver, glucose is converted into both. Glucose production and secretion by the liver are strongly inhibited by high concentrations of insulin in the blood. Circulating insulin also affects the synthesis of proteins in a wide variety of tissues. It is thus an anabolic hormone, promoting the conversion of small molecules in the blood into large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beijing University
Peking University (PKU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. It is also a member in the C9 League. Established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 by a royal charter from the Guangxu Emperor, it is the second oldest university in China after Tianjin University (established in 1895). In May 1912, the government of the Republic of China ordered the Imperial University of Peking to be renamed Peking University. Then Peking University merged with Yenching University during the nationwide restructuring of universities and academic departments in 1952. In April 2000, the Beijing Medical University merged with the Peking University. Peking University has six faculties, namely Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics and Management, Science, Information Technology and Engineering, as well as Health Sci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Academy Of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research institutes, 2 universities, 71,300 full-time employees, and 79 thousand graduate students. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republic of China (1912–49), Republican era and was formerly also known by that name until the 1980s. The academy functions as the national scientific think tank and academic governing body, providing advisory and appraisal services on issues stemming from the national economy, Social change, social development, and science and technology progress. It is headquartered in Beijing, with affiliate institutes throughout China. It has also created hundreds of commercial enterprises, Lenovo being one of the most famous. The academy also runs the University of Scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zou Chenglu
Zou Chenglu (; 17 May 1923 – 23 November 2006), better known as Chen-Lu Tsou, was a Chinese biochemist. He was a professor of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and later a professor and Deputy Director of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He made important contributions to the synthesis of insulin, and was elected an academician of the CAS and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He won the TWAS Prize in Biology in 1992 for his pioneering study of enzyme inhibition kinetics, and was a six-time laureate of the State Natural Science Award (three times each for First Class and Second Class). His wife, physicist Li Lin, was also an academician of the CAS. Tsou was a strong advocate against academic fraud and pseudoscience, and led a public campaign against what he called "unhealthy practices" such as administrators' interference in scientific research. Early life and education Tsou was born on 17 May 1923 in Qingdao, Shandong province, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, Cell signaling, responding to stimuli, providing Cytoskeleton, structure to cells and Fibrous protein, organisms, and Intracellular transport, transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the Nucleic acid sequence, nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in protein folding into a specific Protein structure, 3D structure that determines its activity. A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called pep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peptide
Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. Peptides fall under the broad chemical classes of biological polymers and oligomers, alongside nucleic acids, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and others. Proteins consist of one or more polypeptides arranged in a biologically functional way, often bound to ligands such as coenzymes and cofactors, to another protein or other macromolecule such as DNA or RNA, or to complex macromolecular assemblies. Amino acids that have been incorporated into peptides are termed residues. A water molecule is released during formation of each amide bond.. All peptides except cyclic peptides have an N-terminal (amine group) and C-terminal (carboxyl g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone required by the body to store and convert blood sugar into energy. T1D results in high blood sugar levels in the body prior to treatment. Common symptoms include frequent urination, increased thirst, increased hunger, weight loss, and other complications. Additional symptoms may include blurry vision, tiredness, and slow wound healing (owing to impaired blood flow). While some cases take longer, symptoms usually appear within weeks or a few months. The cause of type 1 diabetes is not completely understood, but it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves an autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Diabetes is diagnosed by testing the leve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Yinglai
Wang Yinglai (; 13 November 1907 – 5 May 2001), also known as Ying-Lai Wang, was a Chinese biochemist recognized as the first person to create synthetic insulin, a major scientific breakthrough that produced a biologically active compound from inorganic chemicals. He was one of the first group of scientists elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955. He founded the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry in 1958 and served as its director until his retirement in 1984. Early life and education Wang was born in Kinmen County (Quemoy), Fujian Province on 13 November 1907, in the final years of the Qing dynasty. He became an orphan at the age of six when his mother died. His father, an Overseas Chinese merchant, had died four years before. Despite the adverse circumstances, he pursued an education throughout the 1920s and 1930s, when China was mired in wars and turmoil. He graduated from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Nanking (Jinling University) and was adm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niu Jingyi
Niu Jingyi (钮经义, 1920–1995) was a Chinese biochemist. He was born on December 26, 1920, in Xinghua, Jiangsu. In 1942, he graduated from the chemistry department of the National Southwestern Associated University. He served as an instructor of Tsinghua University from 1946 to 1948. In 1948, he went to United States to study biochemistry at the University of Texas, five years later commenced doctor degree. In 1956, he came back to China. His main research field is natural organic chemistry, containing the structure analysis and chemical synthesis of the protein polypeptides. In 1953 he finished his doctoral dissertation titled ''the microelement nutrition of the escherichia coli'' at US. In 1958, the Chinese institute of biochemistry started the research of artificial synthesis of the crystallized bovine insulin with Niu as one of the main principals. He designed the synthesis route, and the synthesis finally achieved success in 1965. This achievement won the First Nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helmut Zahn
Helmut Zahn (born 13 June 1916 in Erlangen; died 14 November 2004 in Aachen) was a German chemist who is often credited as the first to synthesize Insulin in 1963. His results synthesizing insulin were achieved almost simultaneously with that of Panayotis Katsoyannis at the University of Pittsburgh. His work was not honoured by the Nobel Prize because in 1958 Frederick Sanger was the first who discovered the chemical structure of Insulin. Helmut Zahn studied chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and received his PhD in 1940. He habilitated at the University of Heidelberg and became director of the ''Deutsches Wollforschungsinstitut'' at the RWTH Aachen University in 1952. Decorations and awards * Honorary doctorates from the universities of Barcelona, Belfast, Bradford, Düsseldorf, Leeds and Liège. * 1979: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art * 1987: Wilhelm Exner Medal The Wilhelm Exner Medal has been awarded by the Austrian Industry Association, (ÖGV), for excel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panayotis Katsoyannis
Panayotis G. Katsoyannis (January 7, 1924 - May 31, 2019) was an American biochemist who is often credited with being the first to synthesize insulin while leading a team at the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1960s. His results synthesizing insulin were achieved almost simultaneously with that of Helmut Zahn at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. In his early years, while doing his PhD at the University of Athens Katsoyannis had been under the mentorship of Leonidas Zervas, who previously developed new synthetic methods for asymmetric cysteine-containing peptides as those in insulin. Katsoyannis was also noted for his studies on the synthesis of oxytocin and vasopressin. Following his time at the University of Pittsburgh, Katsoyannis served as the head of the division of biochemistry at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and later was appointed as the founding chairman of the department of biochemistry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1967 where he remained until the end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cell-free Protein Synthesis
Cell-free protein synthesis, also known as ''in vitro'' protein synthesis or CFPS, is the production of protein using biological machinery in a cell-free system, that is, without the use of living cells. The ''in vitro'' protein synthesis environment is not constrained by a cell wall or homeostasis conditions necessary to maintain cell viability. Thus, CFPS enables direct access and control of the translation environment which is advantageous for a number of applications including co-translational solubilisation of membrane proteins, optimisation of protein production, incorporation of non-natural amino acids, selective and site-specific labelling. Due to the open nature of the system, different expression conditions such as pH, redox potentials, temperatures, and chaperones can be screened. Since there is no need to maintain cell viability, toxic proteins can be produced. Introduction Common components of a cell-free reaction include a cell extract, an energy source, a supply of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
