Elizabeth C. Theil is an American biochemist who worked on iron biology. She became the first woman to be appointed to a chaired professorship at
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
, in 1988; in the same year she received the O. Max Gardner Award of the University of North Carolina.
Theil earned her B.A. from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
in 1957 and her Ph.D. from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1962. She joined the NCSU faculty in 1971, where she is currently Professor Emeritus, and in 1998 moved to the
Children's Hospital Oakland
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland formerly known as Children's Hospital Oakland, is a pediatric acute care hospital located in Oakland, California. The hospital has 191 beds and is affiliated with the UCSF School of Medicine. The hospital pr ...
Research Institute where she is Senior Scientist Emeritus; in 2004 she was also appointed adjunct professor at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, retiring in 2010.
Theil's Research Group discovered that iron directly binds
ferritin
Ferritin is a universal intracellular protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. The protein is produced by almost all living organisms, including archaea, bacteria, algae, higher plants, and animals. It is the primary ' ...
mRNA to regulate ferritin protein biosynthesis
/sup>, that iron enters ferritin protein though ion channels and pores similar to those in cell membranes, and that ferritin iron, abundant in legumes, can be absorbed intact, with the potential to ameliorate iron deficiency anemia, a disease identified 500 years ago and impacting 30% of the world’s population in 2015.
Publications
*Fe2+ binds iron responsive element-RNA, selectively changing protein-binding affinities and regulating mRNA repression and activation. Ma J, Haldar S, Khan MA, Sharma SD, Merrick WC, Theil EC, Goss DJ.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 May 29;109(22):8417-22. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1120045109. Epub 2012 May 14.
*Fe(2+) substrate transport through ferritin protein cage ion channels influences enzyme activity and biomineralization.Behera RK, Torres R, Tosha T, Bradley JM, Goulding CW, Theil EC.J Biol Inorg Chem. 2015 Sep;20(6):957-69. doi: 10.1007/s00775-015-1279-x. Epub 2015 Jul 23. ;2.Ferritin protein nanocage ion channels: gating by N-terminal extensions.Tosha T, Behera RK, Ng HL, Bhattasali O, Alber T, Theil EC.J Biol Chem. 2012 Apr 13;287(16):13016-25. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.332734. Epub 2012 Feb 23.
*Iron homeostasis and nutritional iron deficiency.Theil EC.J Nutr. 2011 Apr 1;141(4):724S-728S. doi: 10.3945/jn.110.127639. Epub 2011 Feb 23. Review..
*Ferritin protein nanocages—the story.Theil EC.Nanotechnol Perceptions 2012 Mar 31;8(1):7–16. doi: 10.4024/N03TH12A.ntp.08.01.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theil, Elizabeth C.
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American women biochemists
Cornell University alumni
Columbia University alumni
North Carolina State University faculty
University of California, Berkeley faculty
21st-century American women scientists
21st-century American scientists
American women academics