Gilbert Ashwell
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Ashwell is a biochemist
at the National Institutes of Health
. He is a member of the National Academy of Science for his work with Anatol Morell in isolating the first cell receptor.
, in the year 1916. Once finished with high school, Ashwell decided go to college to further his education. He decided that he wanted to attend the University of Illinois, where he earned his B.A. and M.S. in 1938 and 1941. After leaving the University of Illinois, Ashwell decided to go to Columbia University
in New York, which was closer to his hometown. For two years after his graduation, he stayed at Columbia University to do research. In 1950, Ashwell decided to join the National Institute of Arthirtis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases. This Institute had grown and later split into two institutes, which are the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
. Ashwell still works at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases as an emeritus scientist.
in Wilson disease. Ashwell met another researcher named Anatol G. Morell, and from then on, they worked together and proposed that membrane lectins remove senescent circulating glycoproteins, and discovered one of the earliest known carbohydrate receptors. By working with each other, they were able to devise a labeling procedure which allowed them to remove enzymes of the glycoproteins' sialic acid
residue. By completing this process, Ashwell and Morell became able to incorporate other substances into the protein. In 1974, Ashwell and Morell happened to discover that a certain receptor in a human’s liver, is able to recognize a specific glycoprotein called asialoglycoprotein
. Ashwell admitted that he was not specifically looking for the asialoglycoprotein when he found it.
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
at the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
. He is a member of the National Academy of Science for his work with Anatol Morell in isolating the first cell receptor.
Biography
Ashwell was born in Jersey City, New JerseyJersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
, in the year 1916. Once finished with high school, Ashwell decided go to college to further his education. He decided that he wanted to attend the University of Illinois, where he earned his B.A. and M.S. in 1938 and 1941. After leaving the University of Illinois, Ashwell decided to go to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York, which was closer to his hometown. For two years after his graduation, he stayed at Columbia University to do research. In 1950, Ashwell decided to join the National Institute of Arthirtis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases. This Institute had grown and later split into two institutes, which are the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, or NIAMS, is an institute of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services...
and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases , of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, conducts and supports research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health...
. Ashwell still works at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases as an emeritus scientist.
Ashwell’s research
Ashwell’s goal as a researcher was to devise a labeling serum glycoproteins in order to study the role of ceruloplasminCeruloplasmin
Ceruloplasmin is a ferroxidase enzyme that in humans is encoded by the CP gene.Ceruloplasmin is the major copper-carrying protein in the blood, and in addition plays a role in iron metabolism. It was first described in 1948...
in Wilson disease. Ashwell met another researcher named Anatol G. Morell, and from then on, they worked together and proposed that membrane lectins remove senescent circulating glycoproteins, and discovered one of the earliest known carbohydrate receptors. By working with each other, they were able to devise a labeling procedure which allowed them to remove enzymes of the glycoproteins' sialic acid
Sialic acid
Sialic acid is a generic term for the N- or O-substituted derivatives of neuraminic acid, a monosaccharide with a nine-carbon backbone. It is also the name for the most common member of this group, N-acetylneuraminic acid...
residue. By completing this process, Ashwell and Morell became able to incorporate other substances into the protein. In 1974, Ashwell and Morell happened to discover that a certain receptor in a human’s liver, is able to recognize a specific glycoprotein called asialoglycoprotein
Asialoglycoprotein
If terminal sialic acid residues are removed from glycoproteins, the resulting proteins are known as asialoglycoproteins.The exposure of the subterminal galactose residues results in rapid clearance of the glycoproteins from the circulation through hepatocyte asialoglycoprotein receptors on Kuppfer...
. Ashwell admitted that he was not specifically looking for the asialoglycoprotein when he found it.