Luis Federico Leloir
(September 6, 1906 – December 2, 1987)
was an Argentine
physician and
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
who received the 1970
Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the
metabolic pathways in
lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix '' - ...
.
Although born in France, Leloir received the majority of his education at the
University of Buenos Aires and was director of the private research group Fundación Instituto Campomar until his death in 1987. His research into sugar
nucleotides,
carbohydrate metabolism, and
renal hypertension
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
garnered international attention and led to significant progress in understanding, diagnosing and treating the congenital disease
galactosemia. Luis Leloir is buried in
La Recoleta Cemetery,
Buenos Aires.
Biography
Early years
Leloir's parents, Federico Augusto Rufino Leloir Bernal and Hortensia Aguirre de Leloir, traveled from Buenos Aires to Paris in the middle of 1906 with the intention of treating Federico's illness. However, Federico died in late August, and a week later Luis was born in an old house at 81 VÃctor Hugo Road in Paris, a few blocks away from the
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...
.
After returning to Argentina in 1908, Leloir lived together with his eight siblings on their family's extensive property ''El Tuyú'' that his grandparents had purchased after their immigration from the
Basque Country
Basque Country may refer to:
* Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, PaÃs Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map)
* French Basque Country o ...
of northern
Spain: El Tuyú comprises 400 km
2 of sandy land along the coastline from
San Clemente del Tuyú
San Clemente del Tuyú is an Argentine town in the '' Partido de la Costa'' district of the Province of Buenos Aires.
History
Noticed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, who gave nearby Cape San Antonio its name, Spanish authorities first surveyed ...
to
Mar de Ajó
Mar de Ajó is a coastal city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and is located in the southern end of the seaside La Costa Partido (the Coast District). The region is known as the Tuju Corner (Rincón del Tuyú). Etymology
It owes its name to ...
which has since become a popular tourist attraction.
During his childhood, the future Nobel Prize winner found himself observing natural phenomena with particular interest; his schoolwork and readings highlighted the connections between the natural sciences and biology. His education was divided between Escuela General San MartÃn (primary school),
Colegio Lacordaire
Colegio Lacordaire is a school in Cali, Colombia that was established in 1956 by the Dominicans. It currently has offerings from infancy through grade eleven, with special emphasis on English language to prepare students to study abroad.
Histor ...
(secondary school), and for a few months at
Beaumont College in
England. His grades were unspectacular, and his first stint in college ended quickly when he abandoned his architectural studies that he had begun in Paris'
École Polytechnique.
It was during the 1920s that Leloir invented ''
salsa golf
' (Spanish for "golf sauce") is a cold sauce of somewhat thick consistency, common in Argentina. According to legend, it was invented by the physician Luis Federico Leloir in the mid-1920s at a golf club at the seaside resort Mar del Plata. Tired ...
'' (golf sauce). After being served prawns with the usual sauce during lunch with a group of friends at the Ocean Club in Mar del Plata, Leloir came up with a peculiar combination of ketchup and mayonnaise to spice up his meal. With the financial difficulties that later plagued Leloir's laboratories and research, he would joke, "If I had patented that sauce, we'd have a lot more money for research right now."
Career
Buenos Aires
After returning again to
Argentina, Leloir obtained his Argentine citizenship and joined the Department of Medicine at the
University of Buenos Aires in hopes of receiving his doctorate. However, he got off to a rocky start, requiring four attempts to pass his anatomy exam.
[Valeria Roman, "A cien años del nacimiento de Luis Federico Leloir" web:http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/08/27/sociedad/s-01259864.htm] He finally received his diploma in 1932 and began his residency in the
Hospital de ClÃnicas and his medical internship in Ramos MejÃa hospital. After some initial conflicts with colleagues and complications in his method of treating patients, Leloir decided to dedicate himself to research in the laboratory, claiming that "we could do little for our patients... antibiotics, psychoactive drugs, and all the new therapeutic agents were unknown
t the time
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
"
In 1933, he met
Bernardo Houssay
Bernardo Alberto Houssay (April 10, 1887 – September 21, 1971) was an Argentine physiologist. Houssay was a co-recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering the role played by pituitary hormones in regulating th ...
, who pointed Leloir towards investigating in his doctoral thesis the
suprarenal glands
The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer adrenal corte ...
and carbohydrate metabolism. Houssay happened to be friends with
Carlos Bonorino Udaondo
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewhere ...
, the brother-in-law of
Victoria Ocampo, one of Leloir's cousins. Following the recommendation of Udaondo, Leloir began working with Houssay, who in 1947 would later win the
Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The two would develop a close relationship, collaborating on various projects until Houssay's death in 1971; in his lecture after winning the Nobel Prize, Leloir claimed that his "whole research career has been influenced by one person, Prof. Bernardo A. Houssay".
Cambridge
After only two years, Leloir received recognition from the medical department at the University of Buenos Aires for having produced the best doctoral thesis. Feeling that his knowledge in fields such as
physics,
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
, and
biology is lacking, he continued attending classes at the University as a part-time student. In 1936 he traveled to England to begin advanced studies at the
University of Cambridge, under the supervision of another Nobel Prize winner, Sir
Frederick Gowland Hopkins, who had obtained that distinction in 1929 for his work in
physiology and in revealing the critical role of
vitamins in maintaining good health. Leloir's research in the Biochemical Laboratory of Cambridge centered around
enzymes
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
, more specifically the effects of
cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a ...
and
pyrophosphate on succinic dehydrogenase; from this moment Leloir began to specialize in researching carbohydrate metabolism.
United States
Leloir returned to Buenos Aires in 1937 after his brief stay at Cambridge. 1943 saw Leloir marry; Luis Leloir and Amelia Zuberbuhler (1920-2013) would later have a daughter also named Amelia. However, his return to Argentina was amidst conflict and strife; Houssay had been expelled from the University of Buenos Aires for signing a public petition opposing the
Nazi regime in
Germany and the military government led by
Pedro Pablo RamÃrez. Leloir fled to the
United States, where he assumed the position of associate professor in the Department of
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...
at
Washington University in St. Louis, collaborating with
Carl Cori and
Gerty Cori and thereafter worked with
David E. Green
David Ezra Green (August 5, 1910 – July 8, 1983) was an American biochemist who made significant contributions to the study of enzymes, particularly the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation.
Life and career
Green was born i ...
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
Columbia University as a research assistant. Leloir would later credit Green with instilling within him the initiative to establish his own research in Argentina.
Fundación Instituto Campomar
In 1945, Leloir ended his exile and returned to Argentina to work under Houssay at the
Instituto de Investigaciones BioquÃmicas de la Fundación Campomar, which Leloir would direct from its creation in 1947 by businessman and patron
Jaime Campomar
Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...
. Initially, the institute was composed of five rooms, a bathroom, central hall, patio, kitchen, and changing room.
[Ariel Barrios Medina, "Luis Federico Leloir (1906-1987): un esbozo biográfico" web: ] During the final years of the 1940s, although lacking financial resources and operating with very low-cost teams, Leloir's successful experiments would reveal the chemical origins of sugar synthesis in
yeast as well as the
oxidation of
fatty acids in the liver; together with J. M. Muñoz, he produced an active cell-free system, a first in scientific research. It had initially been assumed that in order to study a cell, scientists could not separate it from its host organism, as oxidation could only occur in intact cells.
Along the way, Muñoz and Leloir, unable to procure the costly refrigerated centrifuge needed to separate cell contents, improvised by spinning a tire stuffed with salt and ice.
By 1947 he had formed a team that included
Ranwel Caputto, Enrico Cabib, Raúl Trucco, Alejandro Paladini, Carlos Cardini and José Luis Reissig, with whom he investigated and discovered why a malfunctioning kidney and
angiotensin helped cause
hypertension
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
. That same year, his colleague Caputto, in his investigations of the
mammary gland, made discoveries regarding carbohydrate storage and its subsequent transformation into a reserve energy form in organisms.
Sugar nucleotides
At the beginning of 1948, Leloir and his team identified the sugar nucleotides that were fundamental to the metabolism of carbohydrates, turning the Instituto Campomar into a biochemistry institution well known throughout the world. Immediately thereafter, Leloir received the Argentine Scientific Society Prize, one of the many awards he would receive both in Argentina and internationally. During this time, his team dedicated itself to the study of
glycoproteins; Leloir and his colleagues elucidated the primary mechanisms of galactose metabolism
(now called the
Leloir pathway) and determined the cause of galactosemia, a serious
genetic disorder that resulted in
lactose intolerance.
The following year, he reached an agreement with Rolando GarcÃa, dean of the
Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences
The Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences (''Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales''; FCEN), commonly and informally known as Exactas, is the natural science school of the University of Buenos Aires, the largest university in Argentina.
It o ...
at the University of Buenos Aires, which named Leloir, Carlos Eugenio Cardini and Enrico Cabib as titular professors in the University's newly founded Biochemical Institute. The Institute would help develop scientific programs in budding Argentine universities as well as attract researchers and scholars from the United States,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, England, France, Spain, and other Latin American countries.
Following Jaime Campomar's death in 1957, Leloir and his team applied to the
National Institutes of Health in the United States desperate for funding, and surprisingly was accepted. In 1958, the Institute found a new home in a former all-girls school, a donation from the Argentine government. As Leloir and his research gained greater prominence, further research came from the Argentine Research Council, and the Institute would later become associated with the University of Buenos Aires.
[''World of Scientific Discovery'', Thomas Gale, Thomson Corporation, 2005-2006]
Later years
In his later years Leloir continued to study glycogen
and other aspects of carbohydrate metabolism.
As his work in the laboratory was coming to an end, Leloir continued his teaching position in the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, taking a hiatus only to complete his studies at Cambridge and at the Enzyme Research Laboratory in the United States.
In 1983, Leloir became one of the founding members of the Third World Academy of Sciences, later renamed the
TWAS.
Nobel Prize
On December 2, 1970, Leloir received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry from the King of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
for his discovery of the
metabolic pathways in
lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix '' - ...
, becoming only the third Argentine to receive the prestigious honor in any field at the time. In his acceptance speech at
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, he borrowed from
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
's famous 1940 speech to the
House of Commons and remarked, "never have I received so much for so little". Leloir and his team reportedly celebrated by drinking champagne from test tubes, a rare departure from the humility and frugality that characterized the atmosphere of Fundación Instituto Campomar under Leloir's direction. The $80,000 prize money was spent directly on research,
and when asked about the significance of his achievement, Leloir responded:
Legacy
Leloir published a short autobiography, entitled "Long Ago and Far Away" in the 1983 ''Annual Review of Biochemistry''. The title, Leloir claims, is derived from one of
William Henry Hudson
William Henry Hudson (4 August 1841 – 18 August 1922) – known in Argentina as Guillermo Enrique Hudson – was an Anglo-Argentine author, naturalist and ornithologist.
Life
Hudson was the son of Daniel Hudson and his wife Catherine (), U ...
's novels that depicted the country wildlife and scenery of Leloir's childhood.
He died in Buenos Aires on December 2, 1987, of a heart attack soon after returning to his home from the laboratory, and is buried in
La Recoleta Cemetery.
Mario Bunge, a friend and colleague of Leloir, claims that his lasting legacy was proving that "scientific research on an international level, although precarious, was possible in an underdeveloped country in the middle of political strife" and credits Leloir's vigilance and will for his ultimate success. With his research in dire financial straits, Leloir often resorted to homemade gadgets and contraptions to continue his work in the laboratory. In one instance, Leloir reportedly used waterproof cardboard to create makeshift gutters in order to protect his laboratory's library from the rain.
Leloir was known for his humility, focus and consistency, described by many as a "true monk in science".
Every morning his wife Amelia would drive him in their
Fiat 600 and drop him off at 1719 Julián Alvarez Street, location of Fundación Instituto Campomar, with Leloir wearing the same worn out, gray overalls. He worked sitting on the same straw seat for decades and encouraged colleagues to eat lunch in the laboratory to save time, bringing enough meat stew to share with everyone.
Indeed, despite Leloir's frugality and extreme dedication to his research, he was a sociable man, claiming not to like working alone.
The Fundación Instituto Campomar has since been renamed
Fundación Instituto Leloir, and has grown to become a building with 20 senior researchers, 42 technicians and administrative personnel, 8 post doctorate fellows, and 20 Ph.D. candidates. The Institute conducts research in a variety of fields, including
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
,
Parkinson's disease, and
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
.
Leloir Institute
Awards and distinctions
Bibliography
* Lorenzano, Julio César. Por los caminos de Leloir. Editorial Biblos; 1a edition, July 1994. ISBN 9-5078-6063-0
* Zuberbuhler de Leloir, Amelia. Retrato personal de Leloir. Vol. 8, No. 25, pp. 45-46, 1983.
* Nachón, Carlos Alberto. Luis Federico Leloir: ensayo de una biografÃa. Bank Foundation of Boston, 1994.
References
External links
Fundación Instituto Leloir
The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leloir, Luis Federico
1906 births
1987 deaths
Physicians from Buenos Aires
Argentine biochemists
Argentine Nobel laureates
Columbia University faculty
Illustrious Citizens of Buenos Aires
Nobel laureates in Chemistry
Nobel laureates affiliated with Missouri
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Washington University in St. Louis faculty
University of Buenos Aires alumni
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
TWAS fellows
20th-century Argentine scientists
Members of the American Philosophical Society