| Citation | Distinguished for important contributions to our understanding of chemical transmitter action and synaptic receptor function. Adams developed ingenious experimental techniques, among them the 'voltage jump' and, more recently, a fast 'concentration-jump' method, to study the kinetics of excitatory as well as inhibitory drug actions on nerve and muscle membranes. His novel methods have been very influential and are widely used in many laboratories. Adams showed that there is a large class of neuromuscular and neuronal blocking agents whose inhibitory action involves the blocking of ion channels after they have been opened by the transmitter, thus differing substantially from the previously known antagonists to drug/receptor binding. Together with B. Sakmann he showed that some depolarising drugs have themselves a dual action, by first opening, and then entering and occluding, ion channels in the cell membrane. In collaboration with D.A. Brown, Adams discovered an inhibitory effect of certain neurotransmitters on voltage-gated potassium channels in neuronal membranes. In this way, the response of a nerve cell to a depolarising input can be transformed from a rapidly adapting to a slowly adapting mode, thus greatly increasing its output of impulses. Paul Adams' work is characterized by highly original and elegant technique as well as deep theoretical insight. His studies have had a profound influence on research workers in many laboratories. |