DOCSLIB.ORG

In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921 In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921−1997 Jim Allison J Immunol 1998; 161:545-546; ; This information is current as http://www.jimmunol.org/content/161/2/545 of September 25, 2021. Downloaded from Why The JI? Submit online. • Rapid Reviews! 30 days* from submission to initial decision • No Triage! Every submission reviewed by practicing scientists http://www.jimmunol.org/ • Fast Publication! 4 weeks from acceptance to publication *average Subscription Information about subscribing to The Journal of Immunology is online at: http://jimmunol.org/subscription Permissions Submit copyright permission requests at: by guest on September 25, 2021 http://www.aai.org/About/Publications/JI/copyright.html Email Alerts Receive free email-alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up at: http://jimmunol.org/alerts The Journal of Immunology is published twice each month by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc., 1451 Rockville Pike, Suite 650, Rockville, MD 20852 Copyright © 1998 by The American Association of Immunologists All rights reserved. Print ISSN: 0022-1767 Online ISSN: 1550-6606. In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921–1997 It would not be at all an exaggeration to say that Marian Koshland’s career was spectacular. She made very important con- tributions to our field in each and every decade for the past half century. As a graduate student at the University of Chicago in the 1940s Bunny, as she was known, worked on a vaccine for Asiatic cholera. This work not only demonstrated the importance of mu- cosal antibodies in immunity but also led to her lifelong interest in the structure and origin of antibodies. By the early 1950s and before the formal definition of antibody classes, Bunny had shown that secreted and serum-borne forms of Downloaded from antibodies were discrete molecules. By the 1960s, she began to address one of the central problems in immunology—the origin of antibody specificity. There was a raging debate between instructive models, which held that antibody proteins were all the same and just folded around their target antigens, and selective models, which argued that they were the products of different cells. Bunny http://www.jimmunol.org/ analyzed polyclonal antibodies directed against two different hap- tens, and on the basis of exquisitely careful amino acid composi- tion analyses, convincingly showed that these antibodies had dif- ferent amino acid compositions and therefore must differ in their amino acid sequence. These data had a profound effect on theories of antibody formation and how antibody specificity was generated. Legend has it that at the annual meeting of the American Associ- ation of Immunology where she first presented her data, her talk by guest on September 25, 2021 was received by a standing ovation—quite high praise indeed. By the end of the 1960s, Bunny’s work had become part of the main- stream of an emerging idea that is now one of the cornerstones of immunology, that is, that antigen receptors, both of T cells and B cells, are encoded by multiple rearranging gene segments. Her work in this area was seminal. Charlie Janeway, who is currently the president of the American Association of Immunologists, re- of the American Association of Immunologists in 1997, she pre- cently commented that he had a clear memory of the time in med- sented a wonderful description of recent work from her lab dem- ical school when he first read Marian’s papers in this area, and that onstrating that the action of a transcription factor, BSAP, was very it was for him a defining moment that motivated him to embark on complex and dynamic, and that it could have both positive and a career in immunology. negative effects: extinguishing some genes whose products were By the 1970s, Marian had returned to her studies of secreted no longer needed, while turning on new genes with roles important versus serum-borne antibodies. She identified a novel antibody to the emerging antibody-producing arm of the immune system. subunit called the J chain, characterized it, and showed that it This talk was a marvel, and put together complex biochemical played a central role in antibody assembly and secretion and that phenomena in an understandable context of biological function. It the beginning of its expression marked a clear, discrete step in the was a testament not only to the quality and timeliness of her own maturation of B cells. This work led to the central theme of the work, but also to how far the field has come in a detailed under- remainder of her scientific career: understanding the way in which standing of the workings of the immune system in the half century a B cell becomes an active player in the immune response. since Marian entered it. In the late 1970s, Bunny did a sabbatical stay in David Balti- In honor of all of her accomplishments, Marian received awards more’s lab at MIT to learn molecular biology, as she felt that the that are much too numerous to completely list here. She was future of the field lay in this area. While at MIT she collaborated elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American As- in cloning the gene encoding the J chain and brought the gene and sociation of Arts and Sciences, and to the Council of the American her knowledge of the emerging technology of molecular biology Association of Immunologists, which she served as President in back to the immunology group at Berkeley. In the 1980s Bunny 1982–1983. She received the FASEB Excellence in Science turned her attention to regulation of transcription of the J chain Award. She served on many committees of the National Institutes gene by B cell growth factors. By 1990s her work had extended to of Health and the National Science Foundation involved in setting the more general area of events that accompany and direct B cell national scientific policy, including the NIAID Advisory Council activation and maturation. In an invited talk at the national meeting and the National Science Board. She was noted for her courage and Copyright © 1998 by The American Association of Immunologists 0022-1767/98/$02.00 546 IN MEMORIAM straightforwardness in speaking her mind, and for her honorable during the early stages of her career, she demonstrated that a positions on emerging issues. woman could have a spectacular career while successfully man- If there is any single feature that marked Bunny’s work, it aging to raise a family. It is in part for this that she was honored was her ability to reduce complex phenomena to experimentally by the AAI Committee for the Status of Women in Science at a addressable components. She did this by putting a very high special symposium held at the annual Meeting of the American emphasis on experimental rigor and absolute scientific integrity. Association of Immunologists this year. She was not affected by fads in science, but only by the bottom Reading back over some of Marian’s works recently, I noted line—how well hypotheses hold up to hard experimental scru- that in a memoir she wrote for the Annual Reviews of Immunology tiny. Bunny was well known for her impatience for and will- she said that she chose science as a career in part because of her ingness to challenge half-baked ideas. I am sure that there are conviction that science is a way of making lasting, if not immortal, many immunologists who, like me, can recall times when we contributions to mankind. The legacy that Marian has left us, in her were forced to defend our hypotheses to this formidable devil’s own scientific achievements as well as those of the students and advocate. Bunny was not at all shy in attacking and probing the fellows that she has trained and those of her colleagues like every assumption, every finding, every control. Merely surviv- myself on whom she had a strong influence, will indeed be very ing an encounter with Bunny always gave me confidence that I long lasting. She is, and will be, missed for a very long time by all could defend my ideas to anyone. who knew her and learned from her. Marian served as an inspirational role model for women pursu- ing careers in science. In a field that was clearly dominated by men Jim Allison Downloaded from http://www.jimmunol.org/ by guest on September 25, 2021.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • AT BERKELEY MCB SPRING 1998 Newsletter for Members and Alumni of the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley
    AT BERKELEY MCB SPRING 1998 Newsletter for Members and Alumni of the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate Admissions Committee, under the We were all greatly saddened by the loss Message from academic and administrative leadership of of our dear friend and colleague, Marian David Drubin and Eileen Bell, has enrolled a Koshland (see page 4-5). Marian represented new class of 45 students, 10 of whom have the best of citizenship and scholarship here at the Chair independent fellowships (NSF, HHMI, Cal and in the larger academic arena. She DOD, and University). Congratulations to continued to teach, supervise research, and I hope you enjoy our inaugural edition of the the faculty and student members of the serve as Head of the Graduate Affairs Unit MCB at Berkeley Newsletter. MCB was born Graduate Admissions Committee and the even as she labored in declining health. I must almost ten years ago, and we have grown to Graduate Affairs Unit staff for another out- recount a personal anecdote concerning my such an extent that I felt it was necessary to standing year. Although it is premature to initial encounter with Marian. The Koshland’s create a vehicle of communication connecting make a public announcement, we have every invited me to a party at their home shortly the Divisions of our far-flung enterprise. In indication that our faculty recruitment for after I arrived in Berkeley in 1976. The addition, we have trained a generation of stu- 1998-99 will also be a smash- Biochemistry Department had dents and fellows who have gone on to their ing success.
    [Show full text]
  • 72 New Members Chosen by Academy Search
    72 New Members Chosen by Academy Search: Subscribe to our FREE e- newsletter! NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL June 18, 2004 Current Operating Status About the National Academies Current Projects News Office Publications For Congress Members' Site Marian Koshland Science Museum Giving to the National Date: April 20, 2004 Academies Contact: Office of News and Public Information Directories 202-334-2138; e-mail <[email protected]> Contact Us Site Map FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Career Links 72 New Members Chosen by Academy Employment Internships WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Sciences today announced the Fellowships & Postdoc election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 13 countries in Career Guides recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. News Links The election was held this morning during the business session of the 141st annual News Archive meeting of the Academy. Election to membership in the Academy is considered Reports & Events one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer. Those Top News elected today bring the total number of active members to 1,949. Science in the Headlines The National Academies Op- Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship Ed Service outside the United States. Today's election brings the total number of foreign associates to 351. The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, which calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.
    [Show full text]
  • Marian Elliot Koshland
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MARIAN ELLIOTT KOSHLAND 1 9 2 1 — 1 9 9 7 A Biographical Memoir by R UTH LEVY GUYER Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoir COPYRIGHT 2007 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WASHINGTON, D.C. Photo Courtesy Marian Kosshland Science Museum MARIAN ELLIOTT KOSHLAND October 25, 1921–October 28, 1997 BY RUTH LEVY GUYER ARIAN ELLIOTT KOSHLAND WAS AN eminent immunologist. MShe was spirited, practical, insightful, and inventive, and she had tremendous integrity, energy, and smarts. She was also a caring and generous person. I was fortunate to be one of her graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley in the early 1970s. Marian had become a professor in the bacteriology and immunology department at Berkeley shortly before I joined her group. Her laboratory was in the old Life Sciences Build- ing near the (in)famous eucalyptus grove, a campus landmark redolent of medicinal oils and site of commonplace conversa- tions, licit and illicit trysts, and spurned lovers’ fist fights. Marian’s laboratory was large and classic: Rows of tall, stately black benches spanned much of the width of the room, and at the back near the windows that looked out onto the building’s courtyard was a hulking rectangular conference table. That table was where we—the four graduate students, the postdoc from Lausanne, the two technicians, and Mar- ian—gathered every day at lunchtime to eat and to talk about J chain—the joining protein of immunoglobulin molecules that Marian & Co.
    [Show full text]
  • Oralhisttransretro00maririch.Pdf
    University of California Berkeley of Regional Oral History Office University California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California MARIAN E. KOSHLAND (1921-1997): RETROSPECTIVES ON A LIFE IN ACADEMIC SCIENCE, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES James P. Allison Anne H. Good Catherine P. Koshland Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Douglas E. Koshland James M. Koshland Hugh O. McDevitt Gail Koshland Wachtel Introduction by Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Interviews Conducted by Sally Smith Hughes in 1999 and 2000 Copyright 2003 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. * * * * * if * * * * * * * * ** ** * * * ** * ** * * * * ** * * * * All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Daniel Koshland, December 14, 1998; Hugh McDevitt dated November 23, 1999; James M.
    [Show full text]
  • In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921
    In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921−1997 Jim Allison J Immunol 1998; 161:545-546; ; This information is current as http://www.jimmunol.org/content/161/2/545 of September 27, 2021. Downloaded from Why The JI? Submit online. • Rapid Reviews! 30 days* from submission to initial decision • No Triage! Every submission reviewed by practicing scientists http://www.jimmunol.org/ • Fast Publication! 4 weeks from acceptance to publication *average Subscription Information about subscribing to The Journal of Immunology is online at: http://jimmunol.org/subscription Permissions Submit copyright permission requests at: by guest on September 27, 2021 http://www.aai.org/About/Publications/JI/copyright.html Email Alerts Receive free email-alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up at: http://jimmunol.org/alerts The Journal of Immunology is published twice each month by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc., 1451 Rockville Pike, Suite 650, Rockville, MD 20852 Copyright © 1998 by The American Association of Immunologists All rights reserved. Print ISSN: 0022-1767 Online ISSN: 1550-6606. In Memoriam Marian Koshland 1921–1997 It would not be at all an exaggeration to say that Marian Koshland’s career was spectacular. She made very important con- tributions to our field in each and every decade for the past half century. As a graduate student at the University of Chicago in the 1940s Bunny, as she was known, worked on a vaccine for Asiatic cholera. This work not only demonstrated the importance of mu- cosal antibodies in immunity but also led to her lifelong interest in the structure and origin of antibodies.
    [Show full text]
  • I Regional Oral History Office University of California the Bancroft
    i Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California DANIEL E. KOSHLAND, JR. SCIENCE, ACADEMIC SERVICE, PHILANTHROPY Supplementary interview with Robert Tjian Interviews conducted by Sally Smith Hughes in 1998 and 1999 Copyright © 2011 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Daniel E. Koshland, Jr., dated December 14, 1998. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Oral History Office the Bancroft Library University Of
    Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California MARIAN E. KOSHLAND (1 92 1-1 997): RETROSPECTIVES ON A LIFE IN ACADEMIC SCIENCE, FAMlLY, AND COMMUNITY ACTMTIES James P. Allison Anne H. Good Catherine P. Koshland Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Douglas E. Koshland James M. Koshland Hugh 0.McDevitt Gail Koshland Wachtel Introduction by Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Interviews Conducted by Sally Smith Hughes in 1999 and 2000 Copyright O 2003 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete amative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Daniel Koshland, December 14, 1998; Hugh McDevitt dated November 23, 1999; James M.
    [Show full text]
  • Asbmb Goes to China
    ASBMB ANNOUNCES 2008 AWARD WINNERS September 2007 ASBMB GOES TO CHINA American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Scientists helping scientists… It costs no more to choose the very best for your custom peptides and antibodies… Ac-C T P R Q I pS F N F K-OH All peptides are made in our laboratories 1461.640 with the most rigorous QC in the industry – pSFNFK-H3PO4 -98 623.245 We sequence every purified -H PO peptide we manufacture! 3 4 PhD scientists with over 70 years of 623.0 626.5 combined experience in Chemistry, Mass 293.141 72 Cell Biology and Immunology 1218.599 1169.510 1347.658 536.784 740.405 809.426 1317.591 6 246.072 499.227 972.531 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Mass Complete antibody protocols and no hidden charges. Phosphospecific antibody experts! Custom peptides up to 100 AAs in length and at purities up to >98%. Peptides for epitope mapping as low as $4/AA. Modifications include phosphorylated amino acids, dye-labeling, cyclic peptides, and peptides with stable isotopes. Experience for yourself why research scientists around the world trust 21st Century Biochemicals for their custom peptides and antibodies! Come speak with our scientists at: Biomedical Research Equipment and Supplies Exhibit at Harvard Medical School Sept. 19 – 20 Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA Nov. 3 – 7 American Society for Cell Biology, Washington, DC Dec. 1 – 5 www.21stcenturybio.com 260 Cedar Hill Street, Marlboro, MA 01752 Made in the P: 508.303.8222 Toll-free: 877.217.8238 F: 508.303.8333 E: [email protected] U.S.A.
    [Show full text]