Edith Wilson Miles | |
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Born | Edith Margaret Wilson |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Scientific career | |
Thesis | The bacterial metabolism of [alpha-methylserine and hydroxymethylserine] (1962) |
Edith Wilson Miles (born Edith Margaret Wilson) is a biochemist known for her work on the structure and function of enzymes, especially her work on tryptophan synthase.
Miles received her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1957, and then moved to the University of California, Berkeley where she earned a Ph.D. in 1962 [1] working in Esmond Emerson Snell's lab with Jesse Rabinowitz and Edward Adelberg as her advisors. [2] [3] With funding from the American Cancer Society, she moved to the University of Leicester as a postdoctoral researcher with Hans Kornberg. From 1964 until 1966, she was a postdoctoral investigator at Tufts University working with Alton Meister, and then she accepted an independent position at the National Institutes of Health. In 2000 she became a Scientist Emeritus. [1]
Wilson's graduate research characterized an enzyme that required pyridoxal phosphate and tetrahydrofolate to convert α-methylserine to alanine and formaldehyde. [4] [5] Her subsequent work examined the glyoxylate cycle in bacterial cells and led to further investigation of enzymes that require pyridoxal phosphate. [6] Upon her move to the National Institutes of Health, she began to focus on tryptophan synthase, [7] [8] [9] first by establishing the mechanism of the enzyme [10] which would later allow her to investigate interactions between the subunits of the enzyme. [1] Wilson went on to use x-ray crystallography to obtain the structure of the enzyme, [11] [12] and used mutant forms of Salmonella typhimurium to identify the significant components of the enzyme. [1] She also showed that α2β2 complex of tryptophan synthase could unfold in the presence of guanine hydrochloride, [13] details about protein folding and shape that became relevant in later research about barrel-shaped proteins. [14] [15]
While at the University of Texas at Austin, Miles (then known as Edith Margaret Wilson) was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, [16] [17] an honor society that recognizes achievement of first year university students and for which she later served as secretary. [18] In her senior year, 1957, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa [19] : 170 and was a member of Mortar Board. [19] : 189 In 1994, Miles received the Hillebrand Award, named for William Francis Hillebrand, from the Chemical Society of Washington, a section of the American Chemical Society. [20]
Her husband, H. Todd Miles, also worked at the National Institutes of Health and became Scientist Emeritus in 2000. [1]
Tryptophan synthase or tryptophan synthetase is an enzyme that catalyzes the final two steps in the biosynthesis of tryptophan. It is commonly found in Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protista, Fungi, and Plantae. However, it is absent from Animalia. It is typically found as an α2β2 tetramer. The α subunits catalyze the reversible formation of indole and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) from indole-3-glycerol phosphate (IGP). The β subunits catalyze the irreversible condensation of indole and serine to form tryptophan in a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) dependent reaction. Each α active site is connected to a β active site by a 25 Ångstrom long hydrophobic channel contained within the enzyme. This facilitates the diffusion of indole formed at α active sites directly to β active sites in a process known as substrate channeling. The active sites of tryptophan synthase are allosterically coupled.
Glycogen phosphorylase is one of the phosphorylase enzymes. Glycogen phosphorylase catalyzes the rate-limiting step in glycogenolysis in animals by releasing glucose-1-phosphate from the terminal alpha-1,4-glycosidic bond. Glycogen phosphorylase is also studied as a model protein regulated by both reversible phosphorylation and allosteric effects.
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Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) (Vitamin B6) dependent enzyme (EC 2.1.2.1) which plays an important role in cellular one-carbon pathways by catalyzing the reversible, simultaneous conversions of L-serine to glycine and tetrahydrofolate (THF) to 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (5,10-CH2-THF). This reaction provides the largest part of the one-carbon units available to the cell.
Amine N-methyltransferase, also called indolethylamine N-methyltransferase, and thioether S-methyltransferase, is an enzyme that is ubiquitously present in non-neural tissues and catalyzes the N-methylation of tryptamine and structurally related compounds. More recently, it was discovered that this enzyme can also catalyze the methylation of thioether and selenoether compounds, although the physiological significance of this biotransformation is not yet known.
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The enzyme anthranilate synthase catalyzes the chemical reaction
The enzyme tryptophanase (EC 4.1.99.1) catalyzes the chemical reaction
The enzyme chorismate synthase catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a beta-ketoacyl-acyl-carrier-protein synthase I is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
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In enzymology, a nicotinate-nucleotide-dimethylbenzimidazole phosphoribosyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Mary Jane Osborn was an American biochemist and microbiologist known for her research on the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide, a key component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, and discovering the mechanism of action of the anti-cancer drug methotrexate. She headed the Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics at the University of Connecticut Health Center and served as president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Sulfometuron methyl is an organic compound used as a herbicide. It is classed as a sulfonylurea. It functions via the inhibitition of acetolactate synthase enzyme, which catalyses the first step in biosynthesis of the branched-chain amino acids valine, leucine and isoleucine.
Esmond Emerson Snell (September 22, 1914 – December 9, 2003) was an American biochemist who spent his career researching vitamins and nutritional requirements of bacteria and yeast. He is well known for his study of lactic acid-producing bacteria, developing microbiological assays for a number of key nutrients; the discovery of more than half of known vitamins has been attributed to the use of this work. He discovered several B vitamins, including folic acid, and characterized the biochemistry of vitamin B6 (also known as pyrixodal).
Charles Clifton Richardson is an American biochemist and professor at Harvard University. Richardson received his undergraduate education at Duke University, where he majored in medicine. He received his M.D. at Duke Medical School in 1960. Richardson works as a professor at Harvard Medical School, and he served as editor/associate editor of the Annual Review of Biochemistry from 1972 to 2003. Richardson received the American Chemical Society Award in Biological Chemistry in 1968, as well as numerous other accolades.
George Stark is an American chemist and biochemist. His research interests include protein and enzyme function and modification, interferons and cytokines, signal transduction, and gene expression.
Beverly Marie Guirard was a microbiologist who worked on the biochemistry of microbial growth, especially with respect to vitamin B6. She is also known for her work defining the components of coenzyme A which was a part of the research that led to a Nobel Prize for Fritz Albert Lipmann.
Bettie Sue Siler Masters is an adjunct professor at Duke University known for her work on nitric oxide synthase and cytochrome P450 reductase. She was the 1992 recipient of the FASEB Excellence in Science Award, and has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine and as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.