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Olke C. Uhlenbeck

{{Short description|RNA biochemist}}

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{{Infobox scientist

| name = O. C. Uhlenbeck

| birth_date =

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| citizenship = American

| fields = Biochemistry
Biophysics

| workplaces = University of Illinois
University of Colorado
Northwestern University

| alma_mater = University of Michigan
Harvard University

| doctoral_advisor = Paul Doty

| aca demic_advisors =

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| notable_students =

| father = George Uhlenbeck

| known_for = RNA synthesis from synthetic templates, RNA-protein interactions, RNA Biochemistry

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| spouse = {{marriage|Karen Uhlenbeck|1965|1976}}

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Olke C. Uhlenbeck is a Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder{{cite web|url=https://www.colorado.edu/biochemistry/faculty|title=Faculty|date=21 August 2018}} and at Northwestern University.{{Cite web|url=http://groups.molbiosci.northwestern.edu/uhlenbeck/research.htm|title=Northwestern University Department of Molecular Biosciences The Uhlenbeck Lab Research|website=groups.molbiosci.northwestern.edu|access-date=2020-04-18}}{{cite web |url=https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/persons/olke-c-uhlenbeck |title=Olke C. Uhlenbeck |website=Northwestern University |accessdate=2021-05-06}}

His research group has led to many breakthroughs in RNA biochemistry, including the enzymatic synthesis of RNAs from synthetic DNA templates using T7 RNA polymerase.{{cite journal |last1=Milligan |first1=John F. |last2=Groebe |first2=Duncan R. |last3=Witherell |first3=Gary W. |last4=Uhlenbeck |first4=Olke C. |title=Oligoribonucleotide synthesis using T7 RNA polymerase and synthetic DNA templates |journal=Nucleic Acids Research |volume=15 |issue=21 |pages=8783–98 |year=1987 |pmid=3684574 |pmc=306405 |doi=10.1093/nar/15.21.8783}}{{Better source needed|date=April 2011}} Olke was a founding member of the RNA Society.{{cite web|title=An Imperfect Account of the Founding of the RNA Society|url=http://www.rnasociety.org/about/society-history/|publisher=The RNA society}} His father was theoretical physicist George Uhlenbeck.

Education

He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1964, and then completed his doctorate in biophysics at Harvard University in 1969 under the supervision of Paul Doty.{{Cite web|url=https://www.colorado.edu/today/2016/07/29/1-million-gift-biofrontiers-institute-aid-graduate-students|title=$1 million gift to BioFrontiers Institute to aid graduate students|date=2016-07-29|website=CU Boulder Today|language=en|access-date=2020-04-18}} As a graduate student in Paul Doty's lab, Uhlenbeck showed that the anticodon of tRNA was accessible to hybridization to oligonucleotides.{{cite journal |last1=Uhlenbeck |first1=Olke C. |last2=Baller |first2=Julie |last3=Doty |first3=Paul |title=Complementary Oligonucleotide Binding to the Anticodon Loop of fMet-transfer RNA |journal=Nature |volume=225 |issue=5232 |pages=508–10 |year=1970 |pmid=5411856 |doi=10.1038/225508a0|bibcode = 1970Natur.225..508U |s2cid=91936 }}{{Better source needed|date=April 2011}}

Research

He is known for his studies of RNA biochemistry. Some{{who|date=May 2021}} have called him the "Father of RNA".{{Cite web|url=https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/022213/uhlenbeck-wins-asbmb-lipmann-lectureship|title=Renowned researcher Uhlenbeck wins Lipmann lectureship for work on RNA biochemistry|website=www.asbmb.org|language=en|access-date=2020-04-18}}

Uhlenbeck was first published in 1968 at Harvard University for an article titled, "Some Effects on Noncomplementary Bases on the Stability of Helical Complexes of Polyribonucleotides". The study overviews the conformation of specific polyribonucleotide sequences.{{Citation|last1=Uhlenbeck|first1=OLKE|title=Some Effects on Noncomplementary Bases on the Stability of Helical Complexes of Polyribonucleotides**This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grant (GB-4563).|date=1968-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123956385500112|work=Molecular Associations in Biology|pages=107–114|editor-last=Pullman|editor-first=BERNARD|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-395638-5.50011-2|isbn=978-0-12-395638-5|access-date=2020-04-18|last2=Harrison|first2=RICHARD|last3=Doty|first3=PAUL|url-access=subscription}}

File:201904 RNA.svg

In the 1970s, he began his work on RNA. As a Miller Research Fellow in Ignacio Tinoco, Jr.'s lab he helped define an original model for RNA secondary structure prediction.{{cite journal |last1=Tinoco |first1=Ignacio |last2=Uhlenbeck |first2=Olke C. |last3=Levine |first3=Mark D. |title=Estimation of Secondary Structure in Ribonucleic Acids |journal=Nature |volume=230 |issue=5293 |pages=362–7 |year=1971 |pmid=4927725 |doi=10.1038/230362a0|bibcode = 1971Natur.230..362T |s2cid=4283534 }}{{Better source needed|date=April 2011}}

In 1987, his research found that transcription occurs at variable initiation sites that can produce small nucleotide strands. These different strands contribute to the variability of RNA. Uhlenbeck and colleagues described a method to make small ribonucleotide sequences that were specific to synthetic DNA used in the study.{{Cite journal|last1=Milligan|first1=John F.|last2=Groebe|first2=Duncan R.|last3=Witherell|first3=Gary W.|last4=Uhlenbeck|first4=Olke C.|date=1987|title=Oligoribonucleotide synthesis using T7 RNA polymerase and synthetic DNA templates|journal=Nucleic Acids Research|volume=15|issue=21|pages=8783–8798|doi=10.1093/nar/15.21.8783|pmid=3684574|pmc=306405|issn=0305-1048}}

He has also researched RNA polymerases that are involved in the creation of DNA synthesis, working on the analysis and understanding of the R17 protein coat.{{Cite journal|last1=Romaniuk|first1=Paul J.|last2=Lowary|first2=Peggy|last3=Wu|first3=Huey Nan|last4=Stormo|first4=Gary|last5=Uhlenbeck|first5=Olke C.|date=1987-03-01|title=RNA binding site of R17 coat protein|journal=Biochemistry|volume=26|issue=6|pages=1563–1568|doi=10.1021/bi00380a011|pmid=3297131|issn=0006-2960}} Following that research, he along with a group of colleagues defined the accepted model of RNA secondary structure.

Uhlenbeck studied how amino acids that are esterified interact with tRNA differently.{{Cite journal|last1=Uhlenbeck|first1=Olke C|last2=Schrader|first2=Jared M|date=October 2018|title=Evolutionary tuning impacts the design of bacterial tRNAs for the incorporation of unnatural amino acids by ribosomes|journal=Current Opinion in Chemical Biology|volume=46|pages=138–145|doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.07.016|pmid=30059836|pmc=6601615|issn=1367-5931|doi-access=free}}

Uhlenbeck Lab

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Uhlenbeck runs the Uhlenbeck lab at Northwestern University after having moved it from the University of Colorado Boulder. Their current research focuses on the recognition and activity of modified tRNA. One of their major focuses is the development of an aminoacyl tRNA synthetase, which allows the researchers to conduct their experiment when there is excess enzyme in the environment.

Notable contributions include:

  • {{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=G. C. |last2=Uhlenbeck |first2=OC |last3=Bedows |first3=E |last4=Gumport |first4=RI |title=T4-Induced RNA Ligase Joins Single-Stranded Oligoribonucleotides |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=122–6 |year=1975 |pmid=1090929 |pmc=432253 |doi=10.1073/pnas.72.1.122|bibcode = 1975PNAS...72..122W |doi-access=free }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=England |first1=Thomas E. |last2=Uhlenbeck |first2=Olke C. |title=3′-Terminal labelling of RNA with T4 RNA ligase |journal=Nature |volume=275 |issue=5680 |pages=560–1 |year=1978 |pmid=692735 |doi=10.1038/275560a0|bibcode = 1978Natur.275..560E |s2cid=4153471 }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Milligan |first1=John F. |last2=Groebe |first2=Duncan R. |last3=Witherell |first3=Gary W. |last4=Uhlenbeck |first4=Olke C. |title=Oligoribonucleotide synthesis using T7 RNA polymerase and synthetic DNA templates |journal=Nucleic Acids Research |volume=15 |issue=21 |pages=8783–98 |year=1987 |pmid=3684574 |pmc=306405 |doi=10.1093/nar/15.21.8783}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Milligan |first1=John F. |last2=Groebe |first2=Duncan R. |last3=Witherell |first3=Gary W. |last4=Uhlenbeck |first4=Olke C. |title=Oligoribonucleotide synthesis using T7 RNA polymerase and synthetic DNA templates |journal=Nucleic Acids Research |volume=15 |issue=21 |pages=8783–98 |year=1987 |pmid=3684574 |pmc=306405 |doi=10.1093/nar/15.21.8783}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Hertel |first1=Klemens J. |last2=Herschlag |first2=Daniel |last3=Uhlenbeck |first3=Olke C. |title=A Kinetic and Thermodynamic Framework for the Hammerhead Ribozyme Reaction |journal=Biochemistry |volume=33 |issue=11 |pages=3374–85 |year=1994 |pmid=8136375 |doi=10.1021/bi00177a031}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Johansson |first1=H. E. |title=A thermodynamic analysis of the sequence-specific binding of RNA by bacteriophage MS2 coat protein |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=95 |issue=16 |pages=9244–9 |year=1998 |doi=10.1073/pnas.95.16.9244|pmid=9689065 |bibcode = 1998PNAS...95.9244J |pmc=21323 |doi-access=free }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Sampson |first1=J. R. |title=Biochemical and Physical Characterization of an Unmodified Yeast Phenylalanine Transfer RNA Transcribed in vitro |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=1033–7 |year=1988 |jstor=30928 |doi=10.1073/pnas.85.4.1033|pmid=3277187 |bibcode = 1988PNAS...85.1033S |pmc=279695 |doi-access=free }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Sampson |first1=JR |last2=Direnzo |first2=A. |last3=Behlen |first3=L. |last4=Uhlenbeck |first4=O. |title=Nucleotides in yeast tRNAPhe required for the specific recognition by its cognate synthetase |journal=Science |volume=243 |issue=4896 |pages=1363–6 |year=1989 |pmid=2646717 |doi=10.1126/science.2646717|bibcode = 1989Sci...243.1363S }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Lariviere |first1=F. J. |last2=Wolfson |first2=AD |last3=Uhlenbeck |first3=OC |title=Uniform Binding of Aminoacyl-tRNAs to Elongation Factor Tu by Thermodynamic Compensation |journal=Science |volume=294 |issue=5540 |pages=165–8 |year=2001 |pmid=11588263 |doi=10.1126/science.1064242|bibcode = 2001Sci...294..165L |s2cid=26192336 }}

Recognition

In 1993, Uhlenbeck was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences for his work in RNA biochemistry.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/64193.html|title=Olke Uhlenbeck|website=www.nasonline.org|access-date=2020-04-18}}

John Milligan and his wife created the "Olke C. Uhlenbeck Endowed Graduate Fund" which funds the tuition of first-year graduate students pursuing their doctorate degrees at the University of Colorado, Boulder. It was named after Uhlenbeck because of the impact he made on the biochemistry department at Colorado.

In 2013, Uhlenbeck was awarded the Fritz Lipmann Lectureship, which is given to someone who has made substantial and influential advancements in biochemistry. He was awarded this due to his research on RNA biochemistry. The award includes a $3,000 prize and funding to present at the Experimental Biology conference in Boston.

Personal life

Uhlenbeck's father was theoretical physicist George Uhlenbeck. He was married to Karen Uhlenbeck between 1965 and 1976.{{cite web|title=Interview with Karen Uhlenbeck |author= Allyn Jackson |year= 2018 |url=http://celebratio.org/Uhlenbeck_K/article/634/ |work=Celebratio Mathematica }} John F. Milligan, a colleague of Uhlenbeck's, said that he appreciated the conversations they had as he developed into a scientist. He also said that Uhlenbeck taught him how to be a leader by showing him what it meant to be engaged in research and how to be intellectually curious. This was said by Milligan after his time working in the Uhlenbeck lab at the CU Boulder.

See also

References

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Category:Living people

Category:American biochemists

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Category:University of Michigan alumni

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Northwestern University faculty

Category:University of Colorado Boulder faculty