Stanley Cohen – He Made A Breakthrough In Cellular Growth
February 26, 2020 at 1:01 a.m.
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One such person was Stanley Cohen. He was one of four children of a poor and immigrant tailor father and homemaker mother from Russia, born on Nov. 17, 1922 in Brooklyn, N.Y. As a child he contracted poliomyelitis, which left him with a persistent limp - not a propitious, memorable or encouraging beginning to someone’s life. His infirmity did not hamper his curiosity or search for knowledge - he had an interest in embryology and learning how things work by taking them apart.
Cohen began his education as a biology major at Brooklyn College in 1945, while there he became fascinated by embryology (the study of unborn children or animals).
Of particular, his desire was to know more about the chemical reactions involved inside the egg or embryo. For this reason, he obtained a double major in chemistry and biology. After graduating, he worked as a graduate assistant at Oberlin College.
He continued his education towards a Ph.D. degree at the University of Michigan. While there, he studied the Krebs cycle in common earthworms that he collected from the university campus. (The Krebs cycle is the sequence of action by which living cells generate energy.)
His dissertation was based on the metabolic function of the earthworm. His first real job as he called it, was at the Pediatrics Department at the University of Colorado where he was granted a fellowship.
Dr. Cohen’s true love materialized later at Washington University, where he continued to pursue studies in embryology and biochemistry. He joined Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini and both were instrumental in isolating a nerve growth factor (NGF), a factor Levi-Montalcini had found. There he identified another cell growth factor in the chemical abstracts containing NGF.
Cohen discovered that this substance caused the eyes of new born mice to open and their teeth to erupt several days earlier than normal. He called this substance “epidermal growth factor” or EGF and eventually purified it and analyzed its chemical structure.
Dr. Cohen found that EGF influences a great range of developmental events in the body. He also developed the mechanism by which EGF is taken into individual cells and acts on them. This involved identifying receptors on the cell surface on which the growth factor acts that explains how such proteins change the biology and behavior of individual cells.
Dr. Cohen eventually moved to Vanderbilt where he resumed his research in growth factors and was promoted to full professor of biochemistry in 1967. In 1976, he became an American Cancer Society research professor of biochemistry. Dr. Cohen died on Feb. 7 in Nashville, Tenn.; he was 97.
Drs. Cohen and Levi-Montalcini helped to unravel the basic mechanisms underlying cell growth and the means in which developing cells connect to others. They shared the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for their research. These discoveries paved the way for finding treatments for a number of cancers, such as lung, breast, head and neck and other gastrointestinal varieties.
Targeting the EGF receptor has led to dramatic tumor responses and often rescues the patient from near death. Few discoveries have done as much to transform clinical care.
In addition to cancer, Dr. Cohen’s discoveries have led to current clinical trials where EGF families of growth factors are being used as treatments for heart failure. Growth factors in the EGF family are now recognized as clinical regulators of not only cardiac development but also the maintenance of the adult heart.
And there is increasing evidence in animal studies that the EGF receptor pathway may be involved in progressive kidney diseases including those associated with high blood pressure and diabetes.
Because EGF influences a number of developmental events in the body it is being used to stimulate nerve cell growth, wound healing and cornea repair. It may also improve the effectiveness of skin transplantation. Since the discoveries of NGF and EGF, thousands of related papers and numerous reviews have been published revealing new aspects of growth regulation. Dr. Cohen’s work has led to discoveries of receptors of other growth factors and to eventual more targeted clinical therapy. Growth factor research has provided a deeper understanding of other medical problems like deformities and senile dementia.
Final Thoughts
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Cohen was awarded many honors and medals throughout the world. He was also presented with the National Medal of Science. His fame was worldwide, including being honored by a stamp issued by Uganda.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
One such person was Stanley Cohen. He was one of four children of a poor and immigrant tailor father and homemaker mother from Russia, born on Nov. 17, 1922 in Brooklyn, N.Y. As a child he contracted poliomyelitis, which left him with a persistent limp - not a propitious, memorable or encouraging beginning to someone’s life. His infirmity did not hamper his curiosity or search for knowledge - he had an interest in embryology and learning how things work by taking them apart.
Cohen began his education as a biology major at Brooklyn College in 1945, while there he became fascinated by embryology (the study of unborn children or animals).
Of particular, his desire was to know more about the chemical reactions involved inside the egg or embryo. For this reason, he obtained a double major in chemistry and biology. After graduating, he worked as a graduate assistant at Oberlin College.
He continued his education towards a Ph.D. degree at the University of Michigan. While there, he studied the Krebs cycle in common earthworms that he collected from the university campus. (The Krebs cycle is the sequence of action by which living cells generate energy.)
His dissertation was based on the metabolic function of the earthworm. His first real job as he called it, was at the Pediatrics Department at the University of Colorado where he was granted a fellowship.
Dr. Cohen’s true love materialized later at Washington University, where he continued to pursue studies in embryology and biochemistry. He joined Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini and both were instrumental in isolating a nerve growth factor (NGF), a factor Levi-Montalcini had found. There he identified another cell growth factor in the chemical abstracts containing NGF.
Cohen discovered that this substance caused the eyes of new born mice to open and their teeth to erupt several days earlier than normal. He called this substance “epidermal growth factor” or EGF and eventually purified it and analyzed its chemical structure.
Dr. Cohen found that EGF influences a great range of developmental events in the body. He also developed the mechanism by which EGF is taken into individual cells and acts on them. This involved identifying receptors on the cell surface on which the growth factor acts that explains how such proteins change the biology and behavior of individual cells.
Dr. Cohen eventually moved to Vanderbilt where he resumed his research in growth factors and was promoted to full professor of biochemistry in 1967. In 1976, he became an American Cancer Society research professor of biochemistry. Dr. Cohen died on Feb. 7 in Nashville, Tenn.; he was 97.
Drs. Cohen and Levi-Montalcini helped to unravel the basic mechanisms underlying cell growth and the means in which developing cells connect to others. They shared the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for their research. These discoveries paved the way for finding treatments for a number of cancers, such as lung, breast, head and neck and other gastrointestinal varieties.
Targeting the EGF receptor has led to dramatic tumor responses and often rescues the patient from near death. Few discoveries have done as much to transform clinical care.
In addition to cancer, Dr. Cohen’s discoveries have led to current clinical trials where EGF families of growth factors are being used as treatments for heart failure. Growth factors in the EGF family are now recognized as clinical regulators of not only cardiac development but also the maintenance of the adult heart.
And there is increasing evidence in animal studies that the EGF receptor pathway may be involved in progressive kidney diseases including those associated with high blood pressure and diabetes.
Because EGF influences a number of developmental events in the body it is being used to stimulate nerve cell growth, wound healing and cornea repair. It may also improve the effectiveness of skin transplantation. Since the discoveries of NGF and EGF, thousands of related papers and numerous reviews have been published revealing new aspects of growth regulation. Dr. Cohen’s work has led to discoveries of receptors of other growth factors and to eventual more targeted clinical therapy. Growth factor research has provided a deeper understanding of other medical problems like deformities and senile dementia.
Final Thoughts
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Cohen was awarded many honors and medals throughout the world. He was also presented with the National Medal of Science. His fame was worldwide, including being honored by a stamp issued by Uganda.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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