Question

Earl Sutherland got the Nobel Prize for his work on the Mechanisms of the Actions of Hormones. How is his discovery used today and what possibilities might we see in the future using his discovery?

Answer 1

The 1971 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Earl W. Sutherland Jr. for his work on the action of hormones. Sutherland focussed his work on how the hormone epinephrine regulates glycogen synthesis.

Epinephrine is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland and is transported in the blood stream to different organs in the body. It is released during stress to prepare the individual to new situations and defence. It permits, at a cellular level, the liberation of glucose for the production of energy.

Sutherland focussed on the liver and muscle cells. He discovered a new chemical that acts as an intermediate in hormone signalling: cyclic AMP. Simply put, the hormone is sent out in the blood stream and attaches to receptor on cell membranes. These activated receptors then turn on a chemical cascade in the cell resulting in changes in gene expression and in cell response, thanks to this 2^nd messenger. The hormone never enters or diffuses within the cells - its information is translated in the cell through the activity of cAMP that transports the hormone signal to the cell machinery.

Today it can be used for the purpose of understanding metabolism of various molecules and also can be used in genetic engineering as well as metabolomics for future studies in metabolic pathways of various complex molecules.