Boris Khodorov (, b. 17 January 1922 – d. 5 July 2014) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of physiology, and head of the

Cell Physiology Cell physiology is the biological study of the activities that take place in a cell to keep it alive. The term ''physiology'' refers to normal functions in a living organism. Animal cells, plant cells and microorganism cells show similarities in ...

section of Moscow Physiological Society (formerly the

Pavlov Pavlov (or its variant Pavliv) may refer to: People *Pavlov (surname) (fem. ''Pavlova''), a common Bulgarian and Russian last name *Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist famous for his experiments in classical conditioning Places Czech Republic *Pavlo ...

All-USSR Society of Physiologists; ).

Biography

Boris Israelevitch Khodorov was born in

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

, on 17 January 1922. He graduated from ( Tashkent State Medicine Academy) in 1944 and then served with distinction as senior doctor in the Howitzer Artillery Regiment of the First Byelorussian Front in Byelorussia, Poland, and Germany. In 1946, Khodorov was dismissed from the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and started his scientific career in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as a research assistant at the V.I. Lenin

Moscow State Pedagogical University Moscow State Pedagogical University or Moscow State University of Education is an educational and scientific institution in Moscow, Russia, with eighteen faculties and seven branches operational in other Russian cities. The institution had under ...

(1946-1953). There he received his PhD in biology (1949). After dismissal of the Jewish staff, Khodorov joined the of the

USSR Academy of Medical Sciences The USSR Academy of Medical Sciences () was the highest scientific and medical organization founded in the Soviet Union founded in 1944. Its successor is the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences founded in 1992, and is a part of the Russian Academy ...

., where he served as a senior research scientist and then the head of the Laboratory of Biophysical Studies (1957-1988). He moved again to the Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology as a Senior Research Scientist (1988-2014). There in 2001 he founded the Laboratory of Ion Transport Pathology and Intracellular Signaling.

Scientific contributions

Khodorov published over 175 research papers and books, mostly concerning

ion channels Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by gating the flow of ...

and membrane electrical excitability. He trained many successful scientists who hold faculty positions in universities all over the world. Initially at the V.I. Lenin Moscow State Pedagogical University, like other Soviet neurobiologists he was required to work on

Pavlovian Classical conditioning (also respondent conditioning and Pavlovian conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food, a puff of air on the eye, a potential rival) is paired with a neutral stimulus (e.g. ...

conditioning. After Soviet science was liberalized in the 1960s, he moved to ion channels, developing as a leader in the actions of local anesthetics and toxins on membrane excitability and building up one of the three principal centers of ion channel research in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. At the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery, the Khodorov laboratory carried out pioneering studies in the field of ion channel biophysics, recording electrical activities from the nodes of Ranvier, studying the mechanisms of C-type inactivation in voltage-gated ion channels and the effects of

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nervous tissue, nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insult (medical), insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function ...

s and local anesthetics on membrane excitability. Subsequently, at the Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology he studied structure and function of the NMDA-subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors, focusing on the mechanisms of gating and ion channel block. At the same time, in collaboration with the laboratories of Dr. Pinelis at the Institute of Pediatrics (Moscow, Russia) and Dr. Duchen at the University College London, Khodorov was studying calcium homeostasis, glutamate excitotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction in neurons. He was a member of a number of editorial boards including that of the journal ''Membrane and Cell Biology''.

Personal life

He was married in 1949 to Faina Sheykhon, physiologist, and they had one child Alla born in 1954. In 1985 Boris Khodorov was awarded the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

Publications

* * * First published in Russian as «Физиология человека»

References

External links

Ходоров, Борис Израилевич
— an article in the Great Encyclopedia of Biographies
Boris Khodorov’s profile at the VIP-persons website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khodorov, Boris 1922 births 2014 deaths People from Kerch Russian Jews Soviet Jews Russian physiologists Russian neuroscientists Jewish Russian scientists Soviet physiologists 20th-century Russian scientists 21st-century Russian biologists Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the USSR State Prize Soviet military doctors