Louis Pillemer (1908 – August 31, 1957) was an American immunologist, an early investigator of the

alternative complement pathway The alternative pathway is a type of cascade reaction of the complement system and is a component of the innate immune system, a natural defense against infections. The alternative pathway is one of three complement pathways that opsonize an ...

(a system of defense not dependent upon antibodies).

Biography

Pillemer was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1908, the son of Lithuanian parents. He was brought to the United States at the age of one year, and was naturalized in 1916. He attended public schools in Catlettsburg and Ashland, Kentucky, and began collegiate work at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, later attending Marshall College at Huntington, West Virginia, and Duke University at Durham, North Carolina. At Duke he received a B.S. degree in 1932, and started studying medicine in the same school, he however quit the course in middle of his third year.

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

at the time encouraged those with medical knowledge to serve patients in areas not normally served by physicians, he passed the examination required and began to travel across the state on horseback, visiting and tending to the sick. He quit this job in 1935 and entered graduate school at

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

where he would stay rest of his life. He earned an reputation as an excellent biochemist and was the first to purify tetanus and diphtheria toxins which were later used to develop the DPT vaccine. Pillemer later began to conduct experiments related to the complement system, he was intrigued by experiments at the time which showed that mixing human serum with

zymosan Zymosan is a glucan with repeating glucose units connected by β-1,3-glycosidic linkages. It binds to TLR 2 Toll-like receptor 2 also known as TLR2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TLR2'' gene. TLR2 has also been designated as CD ...

resulted in the loss of C3 component of the complement system. This led him to the discovery of

properdin Properdin is protein that in humans is encoded by the CFP (complement factor properdin) gene. Properdin is plasma glycoprotein that activates the complement system of the innate immune system. This protein binds to bacterial cell walls and dying ...

in 1954. By 1957, Pillemer's behaviour started to become erratic and began abusing alcohol and experimenting with drugs. On 31 August of the same year, Pillemer was found dead at his home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, at the age of 49 years. He died due to acute barbiturate intoxication. His death which happened soon after the publication of Nelson's objections, was ruled a suicide. He was survived by a wife and four young sons.

Properdin Discovery

He led a team at

which discovered

in 1954, and this discovery received attention from the national press as a breakthrough in immunology. In 1957, Robert Nelson challenged these findings, and claimed that Pillemer's results were due to laboratory errors. Nelson's view prevailed at the time, but further study in the 1960s largely led to a confirmation of much of Pillemer's work.Some of his works are referenced here : http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v181/n4604/abs/181234b0.html

References

American immunologists 1908 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American physicians 1957 suicides South African emigrants to the United States {{Immunology-stub