100 years of enzymes as proteins - The James Sumner story

David Heeley, PhD
Honorary Research Professor
Department of Biochemistry

Date: November 25, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. 
Room: CSF 1302

Abstract:

Urease is widely distributed in plants and bacteria where it serves as a supplier of nitrogen in the form of ammonia. Historically, it was the first enzyme to be shown to be a protein, something that is taken for granted today. Commencing in 1917, James Batcheller Sumner (born 1887 in Boston) embarked on a quest at Cornell in Ithaca NY to isolate an enzyme in pure form and determined its chemical nature. Following his doctoral studies with Otto Folin on urea metabolism, he chose urease. Sumner faced several obstacles – physical disability; modest facilities (no cold room); little technical assistance and a prevailing theory that contended that proteins were inert ‘carriers’. He endured several lean years before making progress. The seminar tells the story of a determined, and highly-skilled, one-handed researcher who ultimately won the Nobel prize. It will also include later developments on urease - structure, mechanism, pathology and moonlighting.