Which American medical doctor, professor, and molecular biologist was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of aquaporins (water-channel proteins that move water molecules through the cell membrane)?
Peter Agre Peter Agre Peter Agre (born January 30, 1949) is an American physician and molecular biologist, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. In 2003, Agre and Roderick MacKinnon shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes." Agre was recognized for his discovery of aquaporin water channels. Aquaporins are water-channel proteins that move water molecules through the cell membrane. In 2009, Agre was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Aquaporin Aquaporin Aquaporins, also called water channels, are integral membrane proteins from a larger family of major intrinsic proteins that form pores in the membrane of biological cells, mainly facilitating transport of water between cells. The cell membranes of a variety of different bacteria, fungi, animal and plant cells contain aquaporins through which water can flow more rapidly into and out of the cell than by diffusing through the phospholipid bilayer. Six membrane spanning alpha helical domain with both carboxylic and amino terminal on cytoplasmic side . Two hydrophobic loops contain conserved asparagine proline alanine NPA motif The 2003 Nobel Prize