was a prominent Japanese

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

who uncovered the regulatory role of

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

in cells. He is famous for the discovery of

Troponin image:Troponin Ribbon Diagram.png, 400px, Ribbon representation of the human cardiac troponin core complex (52 kDa core) in the calcium-saturated form. Blue = troponin C; green = troponin I; magenta = troponin T.; ; rendered with PyMOL Troponin, ...

in 1965, which is integral to

muscle contraction Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as ...

, as well as for the contribution of diagnosis of

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

Life

Ebashi was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and received his medical degree in 1944 and Ph.D. in 1954 from the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. He was Guest Investigator of the Rockefeller Institute in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from January to December 1959, where he studied with

Fritz Lipmann Fritz Albert Lipmann (; June 12, 1899 – July 24, 1986) was a German-American biochemist and a co-discoverer in 1945 of coenzyme A. For this, together with other research on coenzyme A, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in ...

. Ebashi was Professor and Chair 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 the Faculty of Medicine,

from May 1959 until March 1983, as well as Professor and Chair of

Biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

at the School of Science from May 1971 to March 1983. He trained many graduate students and postdoctorals who later became leading figures in basic medical sciences in Japan, including Tomoh Masaki who discovered

Endothelin Endothelins are peptides with receptor (biochemistry), receptors and effects in many body organs. Endothelin constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. The endothelins are normally kept in balance by other mechanisms, but when gene ex ...

in 1988. After retiring from the University of Tokyo and becoming Professor Emeritus, Ebashi was offered a professorship in the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki. He became Director-General of National Institute for Physiological Sciences in April 1985, and President of Okazaki National Institutes including National Institute for Physiological Sciences in March 1991.

Recognition

Ebashi was awarded several honors including, the 1968

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

, the 1972

Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy The is a prestigious honor conferred to two of the recipients of the Japan Academy Prize. Overviews It is awarded in two categories: humanities and natural sciences. The Emperor and Empress visit the awarding ceremony and present a vase to ...

, the 1999

International Prize for Biology The is an annual award for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of research in fundamental biology." The Prize, although it is not always awarded to a biologist, is one of the most prestigious honours a natural scientist can receive. Ther ...

, the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

, and an

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

. He was elected as a foreign member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(ForMemRS) in 1977 and a member of the

Japan Academy The Japan Academy (Japanese: 日本学士院, ''Nihon Gakushiin'') is an honorary organisation and science academy founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is c ...

(MJA) in 1978.

Setsuro Ebashi Award

Since 2007 the Japanese Pharmacological Society has awarded the Setsuro Ebashi Award to researchers who made a considerable achievement in the field 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 ...

in honor of Setsuro Ebashi who contributed on a global scale to the field of biomedical research.

Shinya Yamanaka is a Japanese stem cell researcher and a Nobel Prize laureate. He serves as the director of Center for iPS Cell (induced Pluripotent Stem Cell) Research and Application and a professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto ...

, the 2008 Setsuro Ebashi Award winner, received the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in Physiology or Medicine in 2012.

Publications

* Hiroshi Yoshida, Yashiro Hagihara, Setsuro Ebashi (ed) ''Advances in pharmacology and therapeutics II'' Pergamon, 1982, *''Novel developments on genetic recombination: dna double-strand break and dna end-joining'', Japan Scientific Soc. Press, 2004 *Setsuro Ebashi, E. Ozawa (ed) ''Muscular Dystrophy: Biomedical Aspects'', Springer Verlag, 1983, *''Protein array: an alternative biomolecular system'' Japan Scientific Soc. Press, 1997 *''Muscle elastic proteins'', Japan Scientific Soc. Press, 1996

References

External links

Biophysics in Japan, its Past, Present and Future
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebashi, Setsuro Japanese physiologists Japanese biophysicists Japanese biochemists 1922 births 2006 deaths People from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni Academic staff of the University of Tokyo Laureates of the Imperial Prize Recipients of the Order of Culture Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Japanese expatriates in the United States