REMINISCENCES OF ERVIN G ERDÖS

  • Rajko Igić Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Keywords: renin, ACE, angiotensin, kallikrein, kinin, peptides,

Abstract


This article includes personal reminiscence of the great scientist Ervin G Erdös (19222019). Dr Erdös was born in Budapest, where he studied medicine. He finished his medical school in Munich, and obtained MD degree in 1952. There he joined, as a postdoctoral fellow, Professor Eugen Werle who had earlier discovered kallikrein, an enzyme that liberates kinins from kininogen. Dr Erdös continued his work on peptides and peptidases at the universities of Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Chicago. In his eighties, he retired from the University of Illinois, Chicago. His numerous contributions to science belong to three important areas: 1) enzymes that generate, inactivate, or modulate the activity of kinins and other biologically active peptides, 2) angiotensin-converting enzyme and 3) kinin receptors. These discoveries contributed to our understanding of several bioactive peptide systems. Dr Erdös also found important interactions of the renin-angiotensin and kallikrein-kinin systems.

References

Erdös EG. Peptides and the enzymes that release or inactivate them: A short history of my life and work entwined. In: Semenza G, and Turner A J, eds. Selected topics in the history of biochemistry: personal recollections VIII. Comprehensive Biochemistry. Vol. 43. New York: Elsevier B.V.; 2004. p. 279–354.

Yang HYT, Erdös EG, Levin Y. A dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase that converts angiotensin I and inactivates bradykinin. Biochim Biophys Acta 1970;214:374–6.

Igić R, Sorrells K, Nakajima T, Erdös EG. Identity of kininase II with an angiotensin I converting enzyme. In: Back N, Sicuteri F, eds. Vasopeptides. Plenum Press, New York; 1972. p. 149–153.

Erdös EG, Deddish PA, Marcic BM. Potentiation of bradykinin actions by ACE inhibitors. Trends Endocrinol Metab 1999;10:223–9.

Igić R. An exploration of bioactive peptides: my collaboration with Ervin G. Erdös. J Biol Chem 2018;293:7907-15.

Igić R, Robinson CJG, Erdös EG. Angiotensin I converting enzyme activity in the choroid plexus and in the retinal. In: Buckley JP, Ferrario CM, eds. Central actions of angiotensin and related hormones. New York: Pergamon Press; 1977. p. 23-27.

Igić R, Kojović V. Angiotensin I converting enzyme (kininase II) in ocular tissues. Exp Eye Res 1980;30:299-303.

Choudhary R, Singh M, Kapoor MS, Singh A, Bodakhe SH. Therapeutic targets of renin-angiotensin system in ocular disorders. J Curr Ophthalmol 2016;29,7e16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joco.2016.09.009.

Van Haeringen NJ. The renin-angiotensin system in the human eye. Br J Ophthalmol 1996;80:99-100.

Igić R. Four decades of ocular renin-angiotensin and kallikrein-kinin systems (1977-2017). Exp Eye Research 2018;166:74-83.

Igić R. Effect of oxotremorine on the acetylcholine content of whole brain and various brain regions in the pigeon. Br J Pharmacol 1971;42:303-4.

Igić R, Stern P. The effect of oxotremorine on the “free” and “bound” brain acetylcholine concentrations and motor activity in beri-beri pigeons. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 1971;49:985-7.

Erdös EG. Hypotensive peptides: bradykinin, kallidin, and eledoisin. In: Garattini S, Shore PA, eds. Advances in Pharmacology. Vol. 4. New York: Academic Press; 1966.

Erdös EG, ed. Bradykinin, kallidin, and kallikrein. In: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. Vol. 25. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag; 1970.

Published
2019/12/23
Section
Special article