Arne Holmgren (21 December 1940 — 6 January 2020) was a Swedish biochemist known as a

redox Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate (chemistry), substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of Electron, electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction ...

pioneer. He studied medicine at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in 1962 and became a medical student. He received his Ph.D. in 1968 from the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

(KI) where he became associate professor in 1969, and became a certified doctor in 1974. In the years 1970-1973, Holmgren was a senior lecturer in medical chemistry and 1973-1982 a research lecturer and assistant professor of medical chemistry. He was appointed professor of medical protein chemistry and enzymology at KI in 1983, and in 1991 professor of biochemistry and director of the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical Nobel Institute, KI. Holmgren's research pioneered the structure and function of thioredoxin and

thioredoxin reductase Thioredoxin reductases (TR, TrxR) () are enzymes that reduce thioredoxin (Trx). Two classes of thioredoxin reductase have been identified: one class in bacteria and some eukaryotes and one in animals. In bacteria TrxR also catalyzes the reduction ...

and discovered

glutaredoxin Glutaredoxins (also known as Thioltransferase) are small redox enzymes of approximately one hundred amino-acid residues that use glutathione as a cofactor. In humans this oxidation repair enzyme is also known to participate in many cellular functi ...

s. His investigations clarified basic sulphur and selenium-dependent

mechanisms crucial for DNA synthesis, defence against oxidative stress and redox signalling in all living cells from bacteria to nerve cells. His work remains of particular importance for cancer research and the treatment of infectious diseases and inflammation. Holmgren was elected in 1991 as a member of the Academy of Sciences and became a member of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet. He was awarded several scientific prizes, including the Thé Svedberg Prize 1979, the Eric K Fernström Prize for Young Researchers at KI 1980, the Eric K Fernström Nordic Prize in Medical Research from Lund University in 1997 for "his pioneering studies of redoxin enzymes of central importance to the cell and life functions ". In 2006, he received the Abraham Spector Prize, Columbia University, New York and the Science and Humanity Prize from The Oxygen Club of California, Santa Barbara. Holmgren became Doctor Honoris causa at the University of Nancy, France in 2009.

References

Swedish biochemists 1940 births 2020 deaths Academic staff of the Karolinska Institute Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences {{biochemist-stub

See also

References