The Chemical Languages of the Nervous System

Transcription

1 The Chemical Languages of the Nervous System

2 Josef Donnerer Fred Lembeck THE CHEMICAL LANGUAGES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM HISTORY OF SCIENTISTS AND SUBSTANCES 6 figures, 1 in color, 2006 III Basel Freiburg Paris London New York Bangalore Bangkok Singapore Tokyo Sydney The Loewi Famil s way to the New World

3 Prof. Dr. Josef Donnerer Institut für Experimentelle und Klinische Pharmakologie Medizinische Universität Graz Universitätsplatz 4 A 8010 Graz (Austria) Prof. Dr. Fred Lembeck Institut für Experimentelle und Klinische Pharmakologie Medizinische Universität Graz Universitätsplatz 4 A 8010 Graz (Austria) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Donnerer, Josef. The chemical languages of the nervous system : history of scientists and substances / Josef Donnerer, Fred Lembeck. p. ; cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (hard cover: alk. paper) 1. Loewi, Otto, Dale, Henry H. (Henry Hallett), Sir, b Feldberg, W. S. 4. Neurotransmitters History. 5. Neuroscientists Biography. 6. Biochemists Biography. I. Lembeck, Fred. II. Title. [DNLM: 1. Loewi, Otto, Dale, Henry H. (Henry Hallett), Sir, b Feldberg, W. S. 4. Neurotransmitters history. 5. Neurochemistry Biography. QV 11.1 D686c 2006] QP364.7.D dc All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright 2006 by S. Karger AG, P.O. Box, CH 4009 Basel (Switzerland) Printed in Switzerland on acid-free paper by Reinhardt Druck, Basel ISBN

4 Wilhelm Feldberg, Sir Henry H. Dale and Sir John H. Gaddum In grateful memory to my teacher in pharmacology Sir John Henry Gaddum V F.L. The Loewi Famil s way to the New World

5 VI Printed with support of the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, Vienna OELZELT-Stiftung der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna Land Steiermark Stadt Graz Mundipharma GmbH, Vienna Fresenius Kabi Austria GmbH, Graz Dr. Molassa + Merz GmbH, Vienna Gebro Pharma GmbH, Fieberbrunn Novartis Pharma GmbH, Vienna ZAK-Pharma Dienstleistungs GmbH, Vienna

6 CONTENTS IX Preface 1 Introduction 5 Otto Loewi 7 Otto Loewi Introductory Remarks 11 Autobiographic Sketch. By O. Loewi 30 Otto Loewi By H.H. Dale 54 Otto Loewi. By F. Brücke 68 Loewi s Time in Graz 72 Comment on Loewi s Dream 74 An Overlooked Parallel to Kekulé s Dream: The Discovery of the Chemical Transmission of Nerve Impulses by Otto Loewi. By U. Weiss and R.A. Brown 78 The Loewi Family s Way to the New World 82 Comment on the Film: Nobelpreisträger Otto Loewi 85 Henry Hallett Dale 87 Henry Hallett Dale Introductory Remarks 89 Henry Hallett Dale By W. Feldberg 100 Fifty Years after the Nobel Prize Award to H.H. Dale and Otto Loewi. By G.B. Koelle 108 Religious Reflections of Dale and Loewi VII 113 Wilhelm Feldberg 115 Wilhelm Feldberg Introductory Remarks 117 The Early History of Synaptic and Neuromuscular Transmission by Acetylcholine: Reminiscences of an Eye Witness. By W. Feldberg

7 137 Substances 139 From the History of Scientists to That of Neurotransmitter Substances 140 A Substance Isolated from Brain, Synthesized and Called Neurin: Acetylcholine 150 Adrenaline, Noradrenaline and Dopamine: The Catecholamines. From the Acceleransstoff to Adrenaline, Noradrenaline and Dopamine 161 Enteramine and Serotonin: Two Names and Three Functions of 5-Hydroxytryptamine 168 Histamine: One Substance and Three Functions 170 The Amino Acid Transmitter Family 175 A Cloud of Peptides 177 Substance P 190 Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide 193 Neuropeptide Y, Galanin and Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide 197 Opioid Peptides 201 Nitric Oxide 203 ATP and Adenosine 205 Peripheral Neurogenic Stimulators 212 Neurotransmission in the Central Nervous System 222 From Transmitter to Receptor: Progress within 50 Years 225 Subject Index VIII

8 PREFACE Documentation Otto Loewi The collection of documents of Otto Loewi and his family consisted in 1962 primarily of a large suitcase full of unselected material that was in the hands of his son Guido. It was filed carefully by Wolfgang Giere and supplemented with material of various sources between 1962 and The collection of 13 bureau files was handed over by Guido Loewi to the Royal Society on November 17, 1965, and is stored there under the name Documentation Otto Loewi. It served as the basis for the book by Lembeck and Giere [1968]: Otto Loewi: Ein Lebensbild in Dokumenten. During the following 30 years, additional material came into my hands. Other documents resulted from a search of Anton Kernbauer in archives and elsewhere. The resulting Supplement 1999, collected in 3 bureau files, was added to the existing collection at the Royal Society on June 5, Not included in the Supplement 1999 are the transcripts of interviews of Ulrich and Anna Weiss in November 1990, done as part of the ICCGW s Holocaust Oral History Project, amounting to 130 typed pages. The continuing support by Anna Weiss- Loewi and Guido Loewi has to be mentioned in particular. Numerous talks with Anna Weiss- Loewi and her husband Ulrich, and with Guido provided the information condensed in the chapter The Loewi Family s Way to the New World (see pp ). Generally, I think it can be said that the life of Otto Loewi is better documented than that of any other prominent scientist. Insert When the recollections of only one contributor have been recorded, his initials are inserted in parentheses at the end of the sentence (e.g. F.L. = Fred Lembeck or J.D. = Josef Donnerer). As the older contributor, I (F.L.) would like to thank my friend and co-author J.D. We would both like to express our gratitude to the head of our department Prof. Dr. Bernhard A. Peskar for his continuous support. Reference Lembeck F, Giere W: Otto Loewi: Ein Lebensbild in Dokumenten. Berlin, Springer, IX