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Published: 2012-11-20

Nobel Laureate in Chemistry to visit Umeå University

NEWS Brian Kobilka, one of this year's recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will visit Umeå University on 12 December. At 11:00, he will deliver a lecture in the Aula Nordica auditorium about his pioneering research on how cells work and respond to outside signals, the result of decades of work.

The body is a fine-tuned system of tens of thousands of interactions between billions of cells. Each cell has tiny receptors that allow it to recognise its environment, so that it can adapt to new situations.

The two American scientists, Brian K. Kobilka, professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and. Robert J. Lefkowitz, researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor at Duke University Medical Center, were awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for ground-breaking discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family of such receptors: G-protein–coupled receptors.

The team has discovered that these receptors look alike and function in the same manner. About a thousand genes code for such receptors, such as sensors for: fragrances, light, flavours and hormones like adrenaline and dopamine. Many drugs also achieve their effect through G-protein-coupled receptors.

Petter Gustafsson is a professor of plant molecular biology at Umeå University and became acquainted with Brian Kobilka during the beginning of the 1990s.

"I was on a research visit at Stanford University from 1991 to 1992, and by chance, we had our sons in the same football (soccer) team and became good friends rather quickly," he says.

Petter Gustafsson and Brian Kobilka have met regularly over time, and Brian accepted an invitation and visited Umeå University last year.

"He gave a fantastic lecture about the discoveries that form the basis for the Nobel Prize," continues Petter Gustafsson. "Brian Kobilka’s lecture described how his research team has produced an image in which the receptor is captured in the moment it is activated by a hormone and sends a signal into the cell."

Brian Kobilka will be returning to Umeå University next month, but this time with the title of Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

The lecture is open to faculty, staff, students and other interested parties. Please note that the number of seats for the lecture is limited, so it is highly recommended to arrive early to ensure a spot. A press conference will be held prior to the lecture in the Universitetsklubben at 10:00 to 10:30.

Read more about the 2012 Nobel Prize in ChemistryKobilka Lab at Stanford University School of Medicine

Press conference:

Date and Time: Wednesday 12 December, 10:00 to 10:30
Location: Universitetsklubben, Universum

About the lecture:

Date and Time: Wednesday 12 December, 11:00 to 12:00
Location: Aula Nordica auditorium, Universum
Please note: the number of seats for the lecture is limited, so it is strongly recommended to arrive early to secure a spot.

For further information, please contact:

Petter Gustafsson, Professor at the Department of Plant PhysiologyPhone: 090-786 51 59Mobile: 070-632 89 90
Email: petter.gustafsson@plantphys.umu.se

High resolution portrait of Dr. Brian K. Kobilka

Editor: Ingrid Söderbergh