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Ardem Patapoutian

Molecular biologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel laureate 2021 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ardem Patapoutian
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Ardem Patapoutian (born 1 October 1967)[1] is a Lebanese-American molecular biologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel Prize laureate of Armenian descent.[2] He is known for his work in characterizing the PIEZO1, PIEZO2, and TRPM8 receptors that detect pressure, menthol, and temperature. Patapoutian is a neuroscience professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. In 2021, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with David Julius.[3]

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Early life

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Ardem Patapoutian (Armenian: Արտեմ Փաթափութեան) was born to a Lebanese Armenian family in Beirut, Lebanon.[2][4][5] His father, Sarkis Patapoutian (better known by the pen name Sarkis Vahakn [hy]), is a poet and an accountant,[6] while his mother, Haiguhi Adjemian, was the principal of an Armenian school in Beirut. He has a brother, Ara, and a sister, Houry.[7] His grandparents settled in Lebanon from Hadjin after surviving the Armenian Genocide.[8][9][10]

He is childhood friends with journalist and author Vicken Cheterian.[11] He attended the Demirdjian and Hovagimian Armenian schools in Beirut.[11] He enrolled at the American University of Beirut for a year before emigrating to the United States in 1986.[5][12] He received a B.S. degree in cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990 and a PhD degree in biology from the California Institute of Technology in 1996 under direction of Barbara Wold.[13][5][14]

As a postdoctoral fellow, Patapoutian worked with Louis F. Reichardt at the University of California, San Francisco.[15] In 2000, he became an assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute.[16] Between 2000 and 2014, he had an additional research position for the Novartis Research Foundation.[17] Since 2014, Patapoutian has been an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).[14]

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Personal life

Patapoutian, a naturalized US citizen,[5] lives in Del Mar, California with his wife Nancy Hong, a venture capitalist, and son, Luca.[18][19][20][21]

Research

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Patapoutian's research is into the biological receptors for temperature and touch (nociception).[3] The knowledge is used to develop treatments for a range of diseases, including chronic pain.[22] The discoveries made it possible to understand how heat, cold and mechanical forces trigger nerve impulses.[22]

Patapoutian researches the signal transduction of sensors. Patapoutian and co-workers inactivated genes.[23] In this way, they identified the gene, that made the cells insensitive for touch.[23] The channel for the sense of touch was called PIEZO1 (transl. pressure).[23] Through its similarity to PIEZO1, a second gene was discovered and named PIEZO2.[24] This ion channel, the more important of the two mechanoreceptors, is essential for the sense of touch.[24][25] PIEZO1 and PIEZO2 channels have been shown to regulate additional important physiological processes including blood pressure, respiration and urinary bladder control.[24]

Patapoutian also made significant contributions to the identification of novel ion channels and receptors that are activated by temperature, mechanical forces or increased cell volume.[26][27] Patapoutian and his collaborators were able to show that these ion channels play an outstanding role in the sensation of temperature, in the sensation of touch, in proprioception,[28] in the sensation of pain and in the regulation of vascular tone. More recent work uses functional genomics techniques to identify and characterize mechanosensitive ion channels (mechanotransduction).[16][29][30][31]

Awards and honors

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Thumb
Patapoutian on a 2022 stamp of Armenia
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021: Discovery of TRPV1 and PIEZO2

Patapoutian has an h-index of 68 according to Google Scholar,[32] and of 63 according to Scopus[33] (As of May 2020). He has been a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2016, a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2017[34] and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2020.[35]

In 2017, Patapoutian received the W. Alden Spencer Award,[36] in 2019 the Rosenstiel Award,[37] in 2020 the Kavli Prize for Neuroscience,[38] and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology / Biomedicine.[39]

In 2021, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with David Julius for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.[3][40][41]

In October 2021 President of Lebanon Michel Aoun awarded Patapoutian the Lebanese Order of Merit.[42]

In December 2021, Patapoutian received the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award presented by Awards Council member Frances Arnold.[43]

In 2022, Patapoutian was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Award.[44]

Recognition in Armenia

Patapoutian, the first Armenian Nobel laureate, received a hero's welcome when he visited Armenia in June 2022. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan awarded him the Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots,[45] while the Armenian National Academy of Sciences elected him an honorary member,[46] and the Yerevan State Medical University awarded him an honorary doctorate.[47] Patapoutian gifted a replica of his Nobel medal to the History Museum of Armenia.[48][49] HayPost issued a stamp dedicated to him.[50]

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Selected publications

PIEZO1 + PIEZO2

  • Coste, B.; Mathur, J.; Schmidt, M.; Earley, T. J.; Ranade, S.; Petrus, M. J.; Dubin, A. E.; Patapoutian, A. (September 2, 2010). "Piezo1 and Piezo2 Are Essential Components of Distinct Mechanically Activated Cation Channels". Science. 330 (6000). American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): 55–60. Bibcode:2010Sci...330...55C. doi:10.1126/science.1193270. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 3062430. PMID 20813920.[23]
  • Coste, Bertrand; Xiao, Bailong; Santos, Jose S.; Syeda, Ruhma; Grandl, Jörg; Spencer, Kathryn S.; Kim, Sung Eun; Schmidt, Manuela; Mathur, Jayanti; Dubin, Adrienne E.; Montal, Mauricio; Patapoutian, Ardem (February 19, 2012). "Piezo proteins are pore-forming subunits of mechanically activated channels". Nature. 483 (7388). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 176–181. Bibcode:2012Natur.483..176C. doi:10.1038/nature10812. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 3297710. PMID 22343900.
  • Kim, Sung Eun; Coste, Bertrand; Chadha, Abhishek; Cook, Boaz; Patapoutian, Ardem (February 19, 2012). "The role of Drosophila Piezo in mechanical nociception". Nature. 483 (7388). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 209–212. Bibcode:2012Natur.483..209K. doi:10.1038/nature10801. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 3297676. PMID 22343891.

PIEZO2

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References

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