Ebashi Setsuro Ed (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Very nice copy in dustjacket. Some writing and underlining and wear at extremities but overall a very nice copy of a scarce title. From Dr. Ebashi's obituary (1922-2006), "Professor Setsuro Ebashi, my eternal teacher, calmly passed away at the age of 83 in the early morning of July 17, 2006. He was a great and sincere scientist and at the same time a very warm and broad-minded person. He dedicated his life to the study of muscle biology. His main work was the establishment of the Ca theory of muscle contraction that is detailed in every cell biology textbook used today. He showed that a micromolar Ca ion concentration triggers the contraction of myofibrils by binding with troponin on thin filaments. His discovery of troponin was a milestone in developing the Ca theory. He also found that relaxation is induced by the accumulation of Ca ion to the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Most of these brilliant studies were carried out from 1955 to 1965 by his own hand, only with the assistance of his wife, Dr. Fumiko Ebashi. In addition, he, together with me, found in 1967 that the Ca ions for contraction also reversibly activates phosphorylase kinase that supplies fuel for the contraction. These studies were the first to introduce Ca ions as the second messenger in cellular processes. Thereafter, the regulation of biological reactions by Ca ions has become a standard pattern in modern cell biology. For all readers of this journal, the high serum CK activity in muscular dystrophy is very familiar. This was discovered by Setsuro together with Dr. Hideo Sugita in 1959. When Hideo was a graduate student of internal medicine, he read in a paper that serum aldolase activity is elevated in muscular dystrophy and wished to study this problem. His adviser consulted Setsuro concerning this problem, who at once replied that CK activity should be examined in place of aldolase activity because CK is nearly exclusively present in skeletal muscle, whereas aldolase is ubiquitously present. Then, Hideo joined Setsuro's laboratory to study this project. Because it was soon after the end of the Second World War, which brought devastating damage to laboratories in Japan, it was difficult for the young Setsuro to purchase ATP which is one of the substrates of CK. Thus, he and Fumiko had to prepare ATP from rabbit muscles by their own hand. After much effort over several months on the part of the Ebashis and Hideo, it became clear that serum CK activity is elevated in muscular dystrophies, particularly in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This big finding was published in a tiny paper, two pages long, in J. Biochemistry (Tokyo) which at that time was published on A5 sized paper. Ever since, serum CK level has been routinely used as an important marker of muscle disorders. This story teaches us that an important finding can be made even in a humble laboratory. Having recognized that he had successfully raised many of his pupils to become leading scientists in their respective fields, Setsuro officially retired in 1993 at the age of 70. However, he continued to study muscle in his private one-room laboratory by himself, until he suffered a stroke in the laboratory in 2000. He was very eager to return to his laboratory from his bed. His desire, however, unfortunately remained unfulfilled.".

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Signed on a compliments slip by Eijiro Ozawa on the front end paper illustrated 302 pages.