Biographical Memoirs Volume 79 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Jordi Folch-Pi
Jordi Folch-Pi
Pages 134-157
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From page 135... ...
Foich macle major scientific contributions to the areas of lipicl chemistry en cl structural biochemistry en cl was wiclely consiclerecl to have inherited the mantle of Johannes Thuclichum, the nineteenth-century founder of the fielcl of structural neurochemistry . FoIch's studies at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital Laboratories in New York shower!
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From page 136... ...
His approach lecl to the identification of new lipicl en cl protein components in the brain en cl to the recognition of proteolipicis, the major protein of central nervous system myelin, as a new class of lipoproteins. Other seminal research incluclecl methods for the isolation of water-soluble glycolipicis, which are still user!
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From page 137... ...
for more formal training in biochemistry in order to pursue an inclepenclent scientific career. Thanks to Carrasco's contacts, Francisco Duran-Reynals, a biochemist at the Rockefeller Institute in New York, became interested!
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From page 138... ...
THE ROCKEFELLER YEARS Foich arrived at the Rockefeller in 1936 as a volunteer assistant. The following year he obtained a formal position as an assistant and later as an associate on the scientific staff of the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in Van Slyke's department.
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From page 139... ...
proteins with colloicial iron en cl removal of most of the non-lipicl components with water. Concomitantly, he playact a role in the clevelopment of two other methocis.3 One was a manometric method for carbon analysis of organic materials utilizing a glass apparatus previously developed by Van Slyke.
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From page 140... ...
Nobel laureate Herbert Gasser was director of the Institute cluring Foich's tenure, en c! other notables with whom he interacted incluclecl Rafael Lorente cle No, Rene Dubos, Lyman Craig, Sanford Moore, en cl William Stein.
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From page 141... ...
In 1901 Otto Folin began a program to develop methods to stucly the urine of psychiatric patients, but the ensuing comprehensive studies showocl no significant differences between urinary metabolites in normal en cl mentally ill people. In 1908 Folin left to heat!
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From page 142... ...
In 1944 he was appointed director of scientific research at McLean en cl assistant professor of biological chemistry at Harvard Meclical School en c! was given the challenge to establish a broac!
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From page 143... ...
not exist. Chromatography inclucling thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography, en cl mass spectrometry was at a primitive stage, tissue culture techniques were only recently introclucecI, en c!
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From page 144... ...
washing procedure was important because it resultecl in the quantitative extraction of tissue lipicis in a single step en cl the subsequent removal of watersoluble contaminants in the upper phase, however, the upper phase contained gangliosicles (see below)
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From page 145... ...
Everyone students, technicians, postcloctoral fellows, en c! scientific staff spent the clay scraping gray matter from the brains using wooden tongue depressors.
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From page 146... ...
to contain a markocl excess of nitrogen, en cl an amino acid analysis inclicatecl a hydrophobic protein with a high content of sulfur-containing amino acids. It became evident that the lipid extracts contained proteins with lipicI-like properties (i.e., they couIcl be extracted from the tissue with organic solvents)
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From page 147... ...
ChIoroform-methanol extracts of gray matter revealecl the presence of water-soluble glycolipicis. These were iclentifiecl in the upper phase of gray matter extracts as gangliosicles on the basis of the excess amino nitrogen in the upper phase of the washer!
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From page 148... ...
These acidic lipids are all in myelin, and he proposed that they could compensate for the low anion levels reported. This hypothesis was supported later when the three major central nervous system myelin proteins were each shown to have high isoelectric points.
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From page 149... ...
he never forgot an experiment. Much of the unpublished material survives in the McLean Hospital archives.
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At the McLean Hospital Research Laboratories, FoIch not only proviclecl intellectual leaclership but also presiclec! over all aspects of its functioning from recruiting staff to ensuring the correct temperature of the cold room.
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From page 151... ...
increase in the professional staff. The next clecacle brought physical en cl intellectual expansion with the aciclition of two new units, along with suitable laboratory space en c!
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From page 152... ...
He was one of Spain's most prestigious scientists en cl the king of Spain, Juan CarIos, presented him with a mecial as honorary councilor of the Supreme National Council for Scientific Research. One cannot conclucle a memoir of {orcli FoIch without commenting on his personality en c!
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From page 153... ...
Good. Rapid metabolism of fatty acids covalently bound to myelin proteolipid protein.
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From page 154... ...
Separation from it of phosphatidyl serine, phospatidyl ethanolamine and a fraction containing an inositol phosphatide.
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From page 155... ...
Carr. Purification of bovine brain white matter proteolipids by dialysis in organic solvents.
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From page 156... ...
On the type of linkage binding fatty acids present in brain white matter proteolipid apoprotein. Biochem.
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