Henry Hallett Dale
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Sir Henry Hallett Dale (June 9, 1875 - July 23, 1968) was an English scientist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve impulses he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi.
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Research
Although Dale and his colleagues first identified acetylcholine in 1914 as a possible neurotransmitter, Loewi showed its importance in the nervous system.
During the 1940s Dale was embroiled in the scientific debate over the nature of signaling at the synapse. Dale and others believed that signaling at the synapse was chemical, while John Carew Eccles and others believed that the synapse was electrical. It was later found that most synaptic signalling is chemical, but there are some synapses that are electrical.
Dale also originated the scheme used to differentiate neurons according to what neurotransmitter they release. Thus, neurons releasing norepinephrine (a.k.a. noradrenaline) are called noradrenergic, neurons releaseing GABA are GABAergic, and so on. This scheme is related to Dale's principle (sometimes erroneously referred to as Dale's Law). This principle states that each neuron releases only one type of neurotransmitter. Dale's principle has been shown to be false; many neurons release neuropeptides in addition to amino acids or amines (Bear, et al. 2001).
Biography
Dale was born in London, England. In 1894 he entered Trinity College at Cambridge University working under the physiologist John Langley. For a few months in 1903 he also studied under Paul Ehrlich in Frankfort, Germany. In 1904, Dale married his first cousin Ellen Harriet Hallett. Dale received his M.D. from Cambridge in 1909. While working at the University College London he met and became friends with Loewi. Dale became the Director of the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the National Institute for Medical Research in London in 1914. He was knighted in 1932, receiving the Order of Merit in 1944 and the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1948. Dale served as President of the Royal Society from 1940 to 1945. During World War II, he served on the Scientific Advisory Panel to the Cabinet. He died in Cambridge.
References
- Valenstein, E.S.: The War of the Soups and the Sparks: The Discovery of Neurotransmitters and the Dispute Over How Nerves Communicate. Columbia University Press, 2005. ISBN 0231135882
- Valenstein E.S.: The discovery of chemical neurotransmitters. Brain Cogn. 2002 Jun;49(1):73-95 (Medline abstract (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12027394))
- Tansey EM. Chemical neurotransmission in the autonomic nervous system: Sir Henry Dale and acetylcholine. Clin Auton Res. 1991 Mar;1(1):63-72 (Medline abstract (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1668257))
External links
- Sir Henry Dale - Biography (http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1936/dale-bio.html). Nobel Foundation.
- Sabbatini, R.M.E.: Neurons and synapses. The history of its discovery. IV. Chemical transmission (http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n17/history/neurons5_i.htm). Brain & Mind, 2004.
| Preceded by: Sir William Bragg | President of the Royal Society 1940–1945 | Succeeded by: Robert Robinson Template:End boxde:Henry Hallett Dale es:Henry Hallett Dale id:Henry Hallett Dale |