Brian Kobilka

Brian Kobilka
Born	Brian Kent Kobilka May 30, 1955 Little Falls, Minnesota, USA
Nationality	American
Fields	Crystallography
Institutions	Stanford University, Duke University
Alma mater	University of Minnesota Duluth, Yale University
Academic advisors	Robert Lefkowitz
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2012)

Brian Kobilka in Stockholm 2012

Brian Kent Kobilka (born May 30, 1955)^[1] is an American physiologist and a recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Lefkowitz for discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family G protein-coupled receptors. He is currently a professor in the department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the co-founder of ConfometRx, a biotechnology company focusing on G protein-coupled receptors. He was named a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011.

Early life

Kobilka, a Roman Catholic, attended St. Mary's Grade School in Little Falls, Minnesota, a part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud.^[2] He then Graduated from Little Falls High School. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and earned his M.D., cum laude, from Yale University School of Medicine. Following the completion of his residency in internal medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, Kobilka worked in research as a postdoctoral fellow under Robert Lefkowitz at Duke University, where he started work on cloning the β₂-adrenergic receptor. Kobilka moved to Stanford in 1989.^[3] He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator from 1987-2003.^[4]

Research

Kobilka is best known for his research on the structure and activity of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs); in particular, work from Kobilka's laboratory determined the molecular structure of the β₂-adrenergic receptor.^[5][6][7][8] This work has been highly cited by other scientists because GPCRs are important targets for pharmaceutical therapeutics, but notoriously difficult to work with in X-ray crystallography.^[9] Before, rhodopsin was the only G-protein coupled receptor where the structure had been determined at high resolution. The β₂-adrenergic receptor structure was soon followed by the determination of the molecular structure of several other G-protein coupled receptors.^[10]

Kobilka is the 1994 recipient of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology.^[11] His GPCR structure work was named "runner-up" for the 2007 "Breakthrough of the Year" award from Science.^[12] The work was, in part, supported by Kobilka's 2004 Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award^[13] from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.^[14] He received the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Lefkowitz for his work on G protein-coupled receptors.^[15][16]

Personal life

Kobilka is from Little Falls in central Minnesota. Both his grandfather Felix J. Kobilka (1893-1991) and his father Franklyn A. Kobilka (1921-2004) were bakers and natives of Little Falls, Minnesota.^[17][18][19] Kobilka's grandmother, Isabelle Susan Kobilka (née Medved, 1891-1980), belonged to the Medved and Kiewel families of Prussian immigrants, who from 1888 owned the historical Kiewel brewery in Little Falls. His mother is Betty L. Kobilka (née Faust, b. 1930).

Kobilka met his wife Tong Sun Thian, a Malaysian-Chinese woman,^[20] at the University of Minnesota Duluth. They have two children, Jason and Megan Kobilka.^[17][21]

References

1. "BRIAN K. KOBILKA, MD.". Tsinghua University School of Medicine. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
2. "Catholic scientist at Stanford shares Nobel Prize for work in chemistry". Catholic News Service. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
3. "The state of GPCR research in 2004 : Nature Reviews Drug Discovery". Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. Nature. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
4. "Brian K. Kobilka, M.D.". HHMI. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
5. "Cell Insights Could Bring Better Drugs". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
6. Rasmussen SG, Choi HJ, Rosenbaum DM, Kobilka TS, Thian FS, Edwards PC, Burghammer M, Ratnala VR, Sanishvili R, Fischetti RF, Schertler GF, Weis WI, Kobilka BK (2007). "Crystal structure of the human β₂-adrenergic G-protein-coupled receptor". Nature 450 (7168): 383–7. doi:10.1038/nature06325. PMID 17952055.
7. Cherezov V, Rosenbaum DM, Hanson MA, Rasmussen SG, Thian FS, Kobilka TS, Choi HJ, Kuhn P, Weis WI, Kobilka BK, Stevens RC (2007). "High Resolution Crystal Structure of an Engineered Human β2-Adrenergic G protein-Coupled Receptor". Science 318 (5854): 1258–65. doi:10.1126/science.1150577. PMC 2583103. PMID 17962520.
8. Rosenbaum DM, Cherezov V, Hanson MA, Rasmussen SG, Thian FS, Kobilka TS, Choi HJ, Yao XJ, Weis WI, Stevens RC, Kobilka BK (2007). "GPCR engineering yields high-resolution structural insights into β₂-adrenergic receptor function". Science 318 (5854): 1266–73. doi:10.1126/science.1150609. PMID 17962519.
9. ScienceWatch.com:"Interview with Brian Kobilka". Retrieved 2008-10-16.
10. Hanson, M. A.; Stevens, R. C. (2009). "Discovery of New GPCR Biology: One Receptor Structure at a Time". Structure 17 (1): 8–14. doi:10.1016/j.str.2008.12.003. PMC 2813843. PMID 19141277.
11. "John J. Abel Award". ASPET. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
12. "Kobilka's work recognized in magazine award". Stanford University. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
13. "Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award Recognizes Eight Exemplary Scientists". National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). 2004-11-10. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
14. "The Structure of an Important Drug Target Made Crystal Clear". National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
15. Hotz, Robert Lee (October 10, 2012). "U.S. Scientists Win Chemistry Nobel". The Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
16. "Americans Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka win 2012 Nobel Prize in chemistry". Daily News. AP. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
17. "Franklyn A. Kobilka, 83". ECM Publishers, Inc. 2004-03-16. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
18. Paul Walsh, Alejandra Matos (2012-10-11). "Little Falls bakery helps deliver a sweet reward: Nobel Prize". StarTribune. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
19. Social Security Death Index
20. 大馬華人女婿獲諾獎‧化學獎得主科比爾卡會煮豉油雞 (in Chinese). 星洲日報. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
21. Buchen, Lizzie (24 August 2011). "Cell signalling: It's all about the structure". Nature 476 (7361): 387–390. doi:10.1038/476387a. PMID 21866135.

Publications

• Bokoch, Michael P.; Zou, Yaozhong; Rasmussen, Søren G.F.; Kobilka, Brian K.; et al. (2010). "Ligand-specific regulation of the extracellular surface of a G-protein-coupled receptor". Nature 463 (1): 108–112. doi:10.1038/nature08650. OSTI 1002248.
• Rasmussen, Søren G.F.; DeVree, Brian T.; Zou, Yaozhong; Kobilka, Tong Sun; Kobilka, Brian K.; et al. (2011). "Crystal Structure of the β2 Adrenergic Receptor--Gs Protein Complex". Nature 477 (9): 549–555. doi:10.1038/nature10361. OSTI 1026537. PMC 3184188. PMID 21772288.
• Haga, Kazuko; Kruse, Andrew C.; Asada, Hidetsugu; Kobilka, Brian K.; et al. (2012). "Structure of the human M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor bound to an antagonist". Nature 482 (2): 547–551. doi:10.1038/nature10753. OSTI 1035713. PMC 3345277. PMID 22278061.
• Manglik, Aashish; Kruse, Andrew C.; Kobilka, Tong Sun; Kobilka, Brian K.; et al. (2012). "Crystal structure of the µ-opioid receptor bound to a morphinan antagonist". Nature 485 (7398): 321–326. doi:10.1038/nature10954. OSTI 1043732.

External links

• Kobilka laboratory home page
• Brian Kobilka academic profile
• ConfometRx home page
• Nobel Biography
• Biography and Bibliographic Resources, from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, United States Department of Energy