Thursday, October 16, 1997
UCLA chemist wins Nobel Prize
CHEMISTRY: Paul Boyer recognized for discovering how cells’
mitochondria produce and release ATP
By Hannah Miller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
"I don’t know an enzyme that isn’t interesting. I love them
all."
So said UCLA chemistry professor Dr. Paul Boyer about the field
of study that brought him a Nobel Prize Wednesday morning.
He figured out his prize-winning discovery – the mechanism by
which all life-forms produce the crucial chemical adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) – over 15 years ago.
He’s been working on ATP since the early 1950s. When he first
proposed his theory at a 1979 conference on microbiology, he said
his colleagues thought he was "far out."
Since then, Boyer worked to successfully prove his claim: that a
cell’s mitochondria produce and release ATP in a process quite like
a water wheel.
And at 6 a.m., he was awakened by a call from the Royal Swedish
Academy of Science informing him that the 1997 Nobel Prize for
Chemistry was to be shared between he and two others who did
crucial work on ATP, English chemist John Walker, and Danish
scientist Jens C. Skou.
Boyer, who is the head of UCLA’s microbiology department and has
spent 50 years researching in the field, said he was "elated."
"Part of the reason this work was recognized is that I’m
persistent," Boyer said. "I’ve published 300 papers, and about half
deal with this enzyme."
This research is important to understanding basic life
processes, although Boyer did not see any immediate
implications.
"It’s fundamental research. It doesn’t necessarily have a
practical application," Boyer said. "But if you’re trying to repair
a television set, you have to know how it works."
ATP is an energy source for a large number of an organisms’
functions. One individual can produce up to his or her body weight
in ATP in one day. Almost every function of the body is
accomplished by ATP, from the building of bones to the contraction
of muscles and the transmission of nerve impulses. And this
compound serves these functions in every organism that uses
oxygen.
It’s been known for many years that ATP is produced from the
combination of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic
phosphates. But researchers could never figure out how the
mitochondria could produce ATP and send it off to other parts of
the cell without using energy.
And Boyer’s research has solved that question: the ATP-producing
mechanism spins, thereby delivering the ATP without any further
energy loss.
"This is the first time that we have discovered an enzyme to
have a rotational mechanism," Boyer said.
"The binding change mechanism can make ATP, but can’t release
it," he said. "The movement does that."
Of the $1 million prize, Boyer will receive one-quarter. He
plans to spend the prize money "doing something for post-doctoral
fellows." Boyer has worked with more than 40 post-doctoral
researchers in his research on ATP.
"They are the unsung heroes. They work for low financial
rewards, and are dedicated to solving problems of the cell," he
said.
Boyer is 79 years old. He received his Ph.D. from the University
of Wisconsin in 1943. He said that he would be having a "quiet
celebration" at his nephew’s home in Northern California. He will
return to his home near UCLA on Friday.