| Description | Michel Chretien has made major contributions to the protein chemistry of hormones. His most important findings relate to the enzymatic conversion of prohormones to the active form. He was among the first to show that single precursor proteins could be cleaved differentially to give rise to several hormones, including endorphins and ACTH. He has characterized and cloned the convertase enzymes responsible for cleaving precursor forms. Chretien has been a major leader in Canadian science, both as director of the Montreal Institute for Clinical Research and now as director of the Regional Protein Centre in Ottawa. |