| RefNo | EC/1996/17 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Low, Martin Geoffrey: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Date | 1989 |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Martin Low's outstanding contribution has been to reveal that phosphatidylinositol glycans comprise a novel family of hydrophobic anchors which moor (glyco)proteins in the outer leaflet of the plasma membranes of diverse eukaryote cells. Having demonstrated the ability of phosphoinositide-specific phospho-lipases C to release several known plasma membrane ectoenzymes, he demonstrated that the phospholipase-released enzymes are freely water-soluble whereas detergent-solubilised enzymes retain their hydrophobic character; the enzymes are covalently attached to their inositol lipid anchors. He then collaborated with other groups to identify inositol lipid anchors on a variety of clinically and immunologically important proteins, including the variable surface glycoprotein of trypanosomes, decoy accelerating factor, the Th-1, Ly-6, LFA-3, ThB, Qo3 and MEM-43 antigens of leucocytes, the neural cell-cell adhesion molecule N-CAM, a placental growth factor and a colonic carcinoembryonic antigen. He has participated in studies which have shown that a single gene sometimes encodes multiple forms of a single cell surface protein, only one of which bears a phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor. Most recently, he has discovered a plasma phospholipase D which may be the normal mediator of the release of phosphatidylinositol glycan-anchored proteins from cell surfaces in vivo. This pioneering body of work has been primarily responsible for opening up an entire new field in the study of membrane proteins. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA4418 | Low; Martin Geoffrey (1950 - 2013) | 1950 - 2013 |