| RefNo | EC/1983/06 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XXI, 94 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Douglas, William Wilton: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Date | 1982 |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Professor W.W. Douglas has made major contributions to two main fields of Neuroscience. Up to 1960 he produced the first detailed evidence on the physiological role, and pharmacological properties, of the large population of minute nonmyelinated fibres in mammalian sensory nerves. Using an ingenious technique for measuring physiological discharge in these fibres, he showed that these fibres convey information on skin temperature and touch, and that their axons are stimulated by pharmacological agents such as acetylcholine. Since 1960 he has made a series of far-reaching discoveries on the mechanism of stimulus-secretion coupling in various tissues, particularly the adrenal medulla, neurohypophysis, mast cells, and salivary gland. He was the first to show that calcium uptake provides the link between excitation and secretion in these cells, and that other cations can influence secretion by mimicking calcium, or by interfering with its movement. His work on the co-release of other substances (such as proteins, lipids, and nucleotides) along with the principal secretory product has provided important evidence favouring a calcium stimulated exocytosis as the mechanism of secretion in various tissues. Recently, he has opened up a new field by showing that secretory cells in the anterior pituitary are electrically excitable, and that pharmacological agents may affect secretion by regulating this excitability. His work has provided much insight into the process of membrane retrieval following exocytosis. He has contributed greatly to the field, not just through these original experimental contributions, but also through numerous new ideas and concepts in various symposia and reviews. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA3652 | Douglas; William Wilton (1922 - 1998) | 1922 - 1998 |