Axelrod , Julius

Axelrod , Julius
(1912–) American neuropharmacologist
Axelrod was born in New York City and educated there at the City College. Unable to finance a medical career, Axelrod worked from 1935 to 1945 as a technician in a laboratory of industrial hygiene that had just been set up in New York. But still with an ambition for a career in scientific research, and after some years at the Goldwater Memorial Hospital and the National Heart Institute, he took a year off in 1955, obtained a PhD from George Washington University, and moved to the National Institute of Mental Health as chief of the pharmacology section. He held this post until his retirement in 1984, while also continuing to work in the cell biology laboratory at the NIMH.
Axelrod has thrown much light on the action of the catecholamines, the neurotransmitters of the sympathetic nervous system. The most important of these is norepinephrine, first identified as a neurotransmitter by Ulf von Euler in 1946. Axelrod realized that once the molecule had interacted with its target cell some mechanism must come into action to switch it off. Later he was able to describe the role of two enzymes, catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) and monoamine oxidase (MAO), which degrade the catecholamines.
However, studies with radioactive norepinephrine showed its persistence in the sympathetic nerves for some hours. This led Axelrod to propose that norepinephrine is taken up into, as well as released from, sympathetic nerves. This recapture inactivates the neurotransmitter.
For work on the catecholamines Axelrod shared the 1970 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with von Euler and Bernard Katz.
Axelrod has also worked on the role of the pineal gland in the control of circadian rhythms, and the neuropharmacology of schizophrenia.

Scientists. . 2011.

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  • AXELROD, JULIUS — (1912– ), U.S. biochemist, pharmacologist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Born in New York City, the son of Polish immigrants, he obtained his B.Sc. in 1933 from New York s City College, his M.A. in 1941 from New York University, and his Ph.D. in 1955 …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Axelrod, Julius — ▪ 2005       American neuroscientist and pharmacologist (b. May 30, 1912, New York, N.Y. d. Dec. 29, 2004, Rockville, Md.), discovered biochemical processes that play a crucial role in the mechanisms by which chemicals called neurotransmitters… …   Universalium

  • Axelrod, Julius — (b. 1912)    US biochemist and Nobel laureate 1970. Born in New York City, Axelrod shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for research on nerve impulses and the treatment of nervous and mental disorders …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Axelrod,Julius — Ax·el·rod (ăkʹsəl rŏd ), Julius. Born 1912. American biochemist. He shared a 1970 Nobel Prize for studies of how nerve impulses are transmitted. * * * …   Universalium

  • Axelrod, Julius — (1912 83)    US biochemist. Born in New York City, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1970 for research on nerve impulses and the treatment of nervous disorders …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Axelrod, Julius — ► (n. 1912) Científico estadounidense. Fue premio Nobel de Medicina en 1970, compartido con B. Katz y U. von Euler, por sus investigaciones sobre el mecanismo de transmisión de los mensajes nerviosos …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Axelrod — Julius …   Scientists

  • Axelrod — Axelrod, Julius …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Julius Axelrod — (* 30. Mai 1912 in New York City; † 29. Dezember 2004 in Rockville, Maryland) war ein US amerikanischer Pharmakologe und Neurochemiker. Axelrod wuchs in ärmlichen Verhältnissen als Sohn jüdischer Einwanderer aus Polen i …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • AXELROD (J.) — AXELROD JULIUS (1912 ) Biochimiste américain. Né à New York, Julius Axelrod devient assistant dans le département de bactériologie de l’école de médecine de sa ville natale entre 1933 et 1935, puis chimiste au Laboratory of Industrial Hygiene… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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