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Robert J. Lefkowitz
born 1943 · United States · Contemporary
Nobel Chemistry 2012
American physician-scientist at Duke University who mapped the receptor system cells use to read hormones and drugs.
Nobel Prize work
Lefkowitz used radioactive ligands to track and purify the beta-adrenergic receptor, then isolated its gene and discovered that it belongs to a vast family of seven-transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). His work, rewarded by the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Brian Kobilka, revealed how cells sense hormones and why so many medicines target this receptor family.
Fields
Related topics
Protein structure and function
A protein is a sequence that folds into a shape; its surface and flexibility help determine what it can bind or catalyse.
Structure-based drug design
Structure-based design uses a macromolecular structure to generate and test hypotheses about ligand recognition.