Mortimer (Tim) Louis Anson (1901 – 16 October 1968) was the protein chemist who proposed that
protein folding
Protein folding is the physical process by which a protein chain is translated to its native three-dimensional structure, typically a "folded" conformation by which the protein becomes biologically functional. Via an expeditious and reproduci ...
was a
reversible, two-state reaction. He was the founding
editor of ''Advances in Protein Chemistry''.
Protein folding studies
Together with
Alfred Mirsky
Alfred Ezra Mirsky (October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1974) was an American pioneer in molecular biology.
Mirsky graduated from Harvard College in 1922, after which he studied for two years at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeon ...
, Anson was the first to propose
that conformational protein folding was a
reversible process. He
later proposed that it was essentially a
two-state process, i.e.,
that the folded and unfolded states were well-defined thermodynamic
states separated by a large activation energy barrier. He also
was the first to note that the energy barrier typical of folding
(5 kcal/mol, 20 kJ/lmol) was small compared to the absolute magnitudes of the
energies and entropies involved (~100 kcal/mol, 400 kJ/mol) and, hence,
proposed that energy and entropy were continuously traded off
during the folding process.
Anson moved to the
Rockefeller Institute in 1927, where he remained
for fifteen years (1927–1942). He worked closely with
John H. Northrop
John Howard Northrop (July 5, 1891 – May 27, 1987) was an American biochemist who, with James Batcheller Sumner and Wendell Meredith Stanley, won the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The award was given for these scientists' isolation, crystal ...
.
In 1937, Anson first purified and crystallized
carboxypeptidase A
Carboxypeptidase A usually refers to the pancreatic exopeptidase that hydrolyzes peptide bonds of C-terminal residues with aromatic or aliphatic side-chains. Most scientists in the field now refer to this enzyme as CPA1, and to a related pancrea ...
, a
classic model system of protein science.
''Advances in Protein Chemistry''
In 1944 Anson was, with
J. T. Edsall, the founding editor of ''Advances in Protein Chemistry'', which remains one of the leading journals for reviewing the state
of biochemical problems. Anson conceived the journal in long
discussions with Kurt Jacoby, who had fled
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and had once headed the Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
.
Nutritional research
Anson was haunted by the suffering caused in the underdeveloped
world by poor nutrition, and in 1942, left a prestigious research
position at the
Rockefeller Institute to investigate
biochemical and genetic methods for improving the nutrition
of foods, e.g., amino acid fortification.
Personal history
In 1945, Tim Anson married Nina Anton, who was active in the theater. Together, they had at least one daughter, Jill (Mrs. John Szarkowski). Nina Anson died of a heart attack in October 1963. Tim Anson
died on 1 October 1968 of his third heart attack (the first two having been in early 1966 and the summer of 1968).
Anson was good friends with
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
, especially during Bartók's final years in America.
References
* Edsall JT. (1969) "Mortimer Louis Anson", ''Adv. Protein Chem.'', 24, vi-x.
* Anson ML and Mirsky AE. (1925) "On Some General Properties of Proteins", ''J. Gen. Physiol.'', 9, 169–179.
* Anson ML and Mirsky AE. (1929) "Protein Coagulation and Its Reversal: The Preparation of Completely Coagulated Hemoglobin", ''J. Gen. Physiol.'', 13, 121–132.
* Mirsky AE and Anson ML. (1929) "Protein Coagulation and Its Reversal: The Reversal of the Coagulation of Hemoglobin", ''J. Gen. Physiol.'', 13, 133–143.
* Anson ML (1938) "Section I. The Coagulation of Proteins", in ''The Chemistry of the Amino Acids and Proteins'' (Carl L. A. Schmidt, ed.), Charles C. Thomas Books.
* Anson ML. (1945) "Protein Denaturation and the Properties of Protein Groups", ''Adv. Protein. Chem.'', 2, 361–386.
* Anson ML. (1953) "The denaturation of proteins" in ''Les Proteines'', Neuvième Conseil de Chimie, Institut International de Chimie Solvay, (R. Stoops, ed.), Brussels.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, Tim
American biochemists
American molecular biologists
1901 births
1968 deaths