Ernst Peter Pick

Ernst Peter Pick

Ernst Peter Pick (born May 18, 1872 in Jaroměř in Bohemia , then Austria-Hungary , now the Czech Republic ; † January 15, 1960 in New York City ) was an Austrian doctor , immunologist and pharmacologist . His first name is also written Ernest , the middle name Peter is often abbreviated (Ernest P. Pick).

Life

Up to the chair in Vienna

Pick was one of five children of the businessman David Pick and his wife Eleonore nee. Fancy. After attending school in Jaroměř and Prague, he studied medicine at the Karl Ferdinand University in Prague, where he was awarded a doctorate in 1896. med. PhD. He then worked for three years with Franz Hofmeister at the Physiological-Chemical Institute of the Kaiser-Wilhelms University of Strasbourg and eleven years with Rudolf Paltauf (1858–1924) at the Serotherapeutic Institute of the University of Vienna. There he qualified as a professor for applied medicinal chemistry in 1904. In 1911 he switched to Hans Horst Meyer at the Pharmacological Institute . In 1919 his Venia legendi was expanded to include pharmacology, toxicology and formulation science. In 1927 he married Margarethe Janssen. The couple moved into the house on Weimarer Strasse in Döbling , which the widowed Meyer also lived in. Pick rejected calls for chairs in Belgrade, Frankfurt am Main and Utrecht. After Meyer's retirement in 1934, he was his successor. The National Socialists threatened to spread to Austria from Germany.

expulsion

"Judah verrecke - out with the Jews and the Reds" shouted groups of students in 1929 and 1930 at lectures by the Jewish anatomy professor Julius Tandler . When Pick was elected dean in 1932, the German student body wrote :

"Open letter from the management of the German student body to Prof. Dr. Pick! The German student body is indignant that you, contrary to expectations, accepted your election as dean of the medical faculty. The D. St. still stands on the position it announced in 1923 that professors of Jewish ethnicity are not allowed to hold academic positions of honor. Do you want to remember that you are at a German university and that the German students only recognize German teachers as their leaders! In the interest of proper teaching, we hope that you will understand. "

Employed at the Pharmacological Institute Vienna 1925

Of the scientists working at the institute at the time of Pick's entry in 1911 or later , the following emigrated because they were non-Aryans (in the order in which they entered the institute):

• Alfred Fröhlich (1871–1953), joined the institute in 1906, habilitation in 1910, emigrated to the USA in 1939;
• Hans Mautner (1886–1963), joined the institute in 1911, emigrated to the USA in 1938;
• Leo Pollak (1878–1946), joined the institute in the 1920s or 1930s, emigrated to England in 1939;
• Hans Molitor (1895–1970), joined the institute in 1922, habilitation in 1927, emigration to the USA in 1932, disqualification in 1938;
• Susi Glaubach (1893–1964), joined the institute in 1925, emigrated to the USA in 1938;
• Hans Sigmund Heller (1905–1974), joined the institute in 1931, emigrated to England in 1934;
• Klaus Robert Walter Unna (1908–1987), emigrated to Austria from the German Reich in 1933 and joined the institute, emigrated to the USA in 1937;
• David Lehr (1910–2010), joined the institute in 1934, emigrated to Sweden in 1938 and further to the USA in 1939. Lehr has written a book about what happened in Vienna in the 1930s (see literature).

Pick himself was released in 1938 and put into "permanent retirement". He resigned from the Academy of Sciences in Vienna at the end of 1938 after the Academy had been pressured to separate from its “non-Aryan” members. He had to give up his apartment and move into a barrack like Meyer. “In 1938, because of his Jewish origins alone, he was exposed to deep mental anguish and physical humiliation. The humiliations included a house search by the Secret State Police , temporary arrest and violent restraint in Austria. It was only thanks to the energetic intervention of Mrs. Pick in Berlin and Vienna and the help of Austrian friends that he finally received an exit permit with which he could go to his brother in Paris. Mrs. Pick, who stayed with the sick Hans Horst Meyer, was immediately interrogated by the Gestapo because of Professor Pick's 'unauthorized departure'. "

Richard Rössler , who joined the institute in 1924, completed his habilitation in 1931 and proposed the Pick himself, was appointed as his successor.

Pick emigrated to the USA via Paris. With the help of previous students, he received a laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, a professorship in clinical pharmacology at Columbia University, and a laboratory at the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research in Rahway , New Jersey, established by Hans Molitor . “The Picks were among the few emigrants who were able to rebuild their lives in the United States in a home that looked like it had been transplanted from Weimarer Strasse in Vienna to 98th Street in New York. ... The Merck Institute became Pick's scientific home in the USA. For almost twenty years he drove there from New York twice a week, rain or sun, to work on a project of his interest. To be happy, he needed the atmosphere of a laboratory, 'his' laboratory. "

research

Pick's subject before entering pharmacology was protein chemistry , particularly the chemistry of the antigen-antibody reaction . With the internist Friedrich Obermayer (1861–1925) he found out that chemical modification of an antigen, for example by iodination or the introduction of a nitro group , changed the formation of antibodies. Antibodies that rabbits produced against iodinated serum protein from cattle were, unlike antibodies against natural serum protein, not species-specific, i.e. they reacted not only with iodinated bovine serum protein, but also with iodinated serum proteins from other animal species. In contrast, they no longer reacted with the natural bovine serum protein. Rabbits even produced antibodies against their own serum protein when it was nitrated. It was the chemistry of the antigens that determined the specificity of the antibodies. In 1912 Pick completed this area with a monumental overview.

“Antigens, like antibodies, are substances of significant molecular size . This finding agrees that the only definite physical characteristic which we can attribute to all antigens so far is the colloidal nature of the antigen solutions, which, in contrast to the crystalloid, is characterized by their low diffusivity and low osmotic pressure. The second, predominantly chemical characteristic, which is closely related to the first and which, according to previous experience, must also be assigned to all real antigens, is their protein nature. ... No antigen without protein. "

The sentence in barricade, for some time a dogma, does not apply without exception. About a decade later, it was discovered that carbohydrates can also be antigenic. Anyway immunology was dominated in the first 20 years of the 20th century by "the new structural chemistry of Landsteiner and Pick" - Karl Landsteiner was the discoverer of the AB0 - blood group system .

After moving to pharmacology, Pick began working on pituitary extracts . Its antihypertensive effect had been discovered in 1895 by George Oliver and Edward Albert Schäfer , the now diuretic , now antidiuretic effect, the effects on the uterus and the mammary glands and the localization in the neurohypophysis had been added by 1911. But it wasn't until 1928 that the existence of two hormones, the antidiuretic hormone or vasopressin and the oxytocin , was secured. In 1924, together with Hans Molitor, Pick's contributions included ensuring the antidiuretic effect:

"Since the discovery of pharmacologically active substances in the posterior lobe of the pituitary ... the effect of these preparations on kidney secretion has attracted the attention of many researchers. In spite of the fact that almost 30 years have passed since then, the influence of <the pituitary extract> pituitrin on kidney activity has remained completely unexplained. It is strange that up to the present day there is not even agreement in the literature on whether this substance promotes or inhibits diuresis. "

Pick and Molitor used dogs with bladder fistulas , an experimental arrangement they devised, observed the animals for a long time, in contrast to previous researchers, and concluded:

“While the previously reported experiments to test the effect of pituitrin on animals were carried out acutely, with a short observation period and under non-physiological conditions, our investigations reported above were carried out for the first time with the greatest possible adherence to physiological conditions and with a long observation period. In contrast to the older beliefs, they give an impeccable inhibitory effect of pituitrin on urine excretion. ... In addition to the well-known uterine effect, this influence on the water exchange must be regarded as the most prominent property of the pituitary preparations, which in its importance far exceeds the effect on blood pressure. ... With regard to <the> duration of the effectiveness of the pituitary preparations, the opinion does not seem unjustified that the pituitary gland has a decisive influence on the regulation of the entire water balance under normal conditions. "

This conclusion has remained valid, while Molitor and Pick's view that pituitrin does not act on the kidneys but outside them has proven erroneous. The test arrangement became the first reliable test for antidiuretic effects, also for therapeutic pituitary preparations.

Pick also examined other aspects of the water balance. The liver played a role in this - a fact explained by osmoreceptors in the liver. In 1946, Pick summarized the state of knowledge in a lecture at Yale University . Another research focus was the pharmacology of the heart. Like many other Pick considered the role of alkali metal - and alkaline earth metal - ions in cardiac activity. As one of the first he examined isolated parts of the conduction system of the heart, namely the Purkinje fibers , and found that adrenaline , calcium , barium , aconitine and Veratrine promoted their spontaneous beating. The work stimulated electrophysiological follow-up examinations.

Other professional activities

With Hans Horst Meyer, Pick was involved in Austrian drug legislation , such as the so-called “Specialties Ordinance” of 1925, according to which every new drug specialty had to be tested in the Viennese chemical-pharmaceutical research institute. From 1932 to 1933 he was dean, from 1933 to 1937 vice dean of the Vienna Medical Faculty. In the 8th edition, 1933, and the 9th edition, 1936, of "Meyer-Gottlieb", the then authoritative textbook on pharmacology, Pick took the place of the late Rudolf Gottlieb as co-author Hans Horst Meyers. In part of the 9th edition, Pick's name was deleted from the front pages - again for racist reasons .

recognition

In 1924 Pick received "in recognition of the discovery of the importance of the liver for the water balance and urine production" at the same time as Otto Loewi, the Ignaz Lieben Prize , the most important prize for the promotion of natural sciences in Austria. In 1925 he became a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina , which, however, exmatriculated him in 1938. In 1931 he was elected a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences , had to resign "voluntarily" in 1938 and was reinstated in 1952. In 1932 he became a corresponding member of the New York Academy of Medicine . In 1952 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna. In 1957 he received the Silver Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria . “On this occasion he did not want to hide how deeply the compulsion to leave his home and country had hurt him. He had suffered from this festering wound for twenty-two years. He never felt at home in his new situation and always felt in exile. ”The German Pharmacological Society made Pick an honorary member in 1950 and awarded him the Schmiedeberg plaque in 1957 , its highest scientific award.

literature

• Franz Theodor Bridge: Ernst Peter Pick. In: Austrian Academy of Sciences. Almanac for 1960. 110, 1961, pp. 446-459. (With list of scriptures)
• F. Brücke, A. Lindner, W. Weiss: Professor Dr. Ernst Peter Pick in memory. In: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift. 72, 1960, pp. 109-110.
• Katharina Kniefacz: Ernst Peter Pick. In: University of Vienna (ed.): Memorial book for the victims of National Socialism at the University of Vienna in 1938. ( online , accessed on August 3, 2015).
• David Lehr: Eulogy for Professor Dr. Ernst Peter Pick. In: Medical Circle Bulletin. 7, 1960, pp. 3-8.
• David Lehr: Austria Before and After the Anschluss. Dorrance Publishing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2000, ISBN 0-8059-4778-7 .
• K.öffelholz, U. Trendelenburg : Persecuted German-speaking pharmacologists 1933–1945. 2nd Edition. Frechen, Dr. Schrör Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-9806004-8-4 , p. 115.
• Hans Molitor: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Dr. H. c. Ernst Peter Pick. In: Archives internationales de Pharmacodynamie et de Thérapie. 132, 1961, pp. 205-221. (With list of scriptures)
• R. Werner Soukup: Ernst Peter Pick 1872–1960. In: R. Werner Soukup (Ed.): The scientific world of yesterday. Böhlau-Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-205-77303-9 , pp. 238–243.
• Helmut Wyklicky: On the history of the Pharmacological Institute of the University of Vienna (start-up problems , research personalities and selection of some key areas of expertise ). In: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift. 102, 1990, pp. 585-593.
• Ernst Peter Pick. on the history website of the Medical University of Vienna. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
• Ernst Pick (1872-1960). In: Judith Bauer-Merinsky: The effects of the annexation of Austria by the German Reich on the medical faculty of the University of Vienna in 1938: Biographies of dismissed professors and lecturers. Dissertation 1980, pp. 192-194. Retrieved January 26, 2013.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lehr 2000, p. 42.
2. ↑ Michael Hubenstorf: Medical Faculty 1938–1945. In: Gernot Heiss, Siegfried Mattl, Sebastian Meissl, Edith Saurer, Karl Stuhlpfarrer (Ed.): Willing Science. The University of Vienna 1938–1945. Vienna, Publishing House for Social Criticism 1989, ISBN 3-85115-107-0 , pp. 233-282.
3. ↑ ^{a b} K. Löffelholz, U. Trendelenburg: Persecuted German-speaking pharmacologists. 2008.
4. ↑ David Lehr, M.D. 1910-2010. In: New York Medical College website. S. 32. ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 7.87 MB) Retrieved February 4, 2013.  
5. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer : The Academy of Sciences in Vienna in the Third Reich. In: Eduard Seidler et al. (Hrsg.): The elite of the nation in the Third Reich. The relationship of academies and their scientific environment to National Socialism (= Acta historica Leopoldina ; 22). Halle / Saale 1995, pp. 133–159, there 137.
6. ↑ Lehr 1960.
7. ↑ Molitor 1961, pp. 212-213.
8. ↑ Wyklicky 1990.
9. ↑ Lothar Jaenicke: Felix Haurowitz. In: Biospektrum 11.2005, pp. 312-316. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
10. ↑ Fr. Obermayer, EP Pick: About the chemical basis of the species properties of the protein bodies. Formation of immunoprecipitins through chemically modified protein bodies. In: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift. 19, 1906, pp. 327-334.
11. ↑ EP Pick: Biochemistry of Antigens, with special consideration of the chemical basis of antigen specificity. In: W. Kolle, A. von Wassermann (Ed.): Handbook of pathogenic microorganisms. 2nd Edition. Volume 1. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Leipzig 1912, pp. 685–868.
12. ^ Pauline MH Mazumdar: Species and Specificity: an Interpretation of the History of Immunology. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne 1995, ISBN 0-521-43172-7 .
13. ↑ A. Fröhlich, EP Pick: For the knowledge of the effects of the pituitary preparations. I. Communication: Effect on lungs and breathing. In: Archives of Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology. 74, 1913, pp. 107-113. doi: 10.1007 / BF01859234
14. ↑ G. Oliver, EA Schäfer: On the physiological action of extracts of pituitary body and certain other glandular organs. In: The Journal of Physiology . 18, 1895, pp. 277-279. PMC 1514634 (free full text)
15. ↑ Gerhard Battendorf: The History of pituitary hormones. Georg Thieme-Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-13-104571-X .
16. ↑ Oliver Kamm, TB Aldrich, IW Grote, LW Rowe, EP Bugbee: The active principles of the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland. I. The demonstration of the presence of two active principles. II. The separation of the two principles and their concentration in the form of potent solid preparations. In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. 50, 1928, pp. 573-601. doi: 10.1021 / ja01389a050 .
17. ↑ H. Molitor, EP Pick: On the knowledge of the effect of pituitrin on diuresis. In: Archives of Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology. 101, 1924, pp. 169-197. doi: 10.1007 / BF01955456
18. ↑ H. Molitor, EP Pick: On the knowledge of the inhibition of diuresis by hypophyseal preparations. In: Clinical weekly. 2, 1924, pp. 2242-2243. doi: 10.1007 / BF01712041
19. ↑ K. Turnheim: Water and Electrolytes. In: K. Aktories, U. Förstermann, F. Hofmann, K. Starke: General and special pharmacology and toxicology. 10th edition. Elsevier, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-437-42522-6 , pp. 493-507.
20. ↑ W. Kestranek, H. Molitor, EP Pick: About the potency of pituitary extracts measured by their antidiuretic properties. In: Biochemische Zeitschrift 164, 1925, pp. 34-43.
21. ^ E. Stürmer: Bioassay procedures for neurohypophysial hormones and similar polypeptides. In: B. Berde: Neurohypophysial Hormones and Similar Polypeptides. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology Volume 23. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1968, p. 175.
22. ↑ H. Molitor, EP Pick: The importance of the liver for diuresis. In: Archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology 97, 1923, pp. 317–343. doi: 10.1007 / BF01931322
23. ↑ EM Tyryshkina, LN Ivanova, Ya. D. Finkinstein: Participation of the liver receptors in the regulation of ion composition, osmolality and extracellular fluid volume. In: Pflügers Archive - European Journal of Physiology . 390, 1981, pp. 270-277. doi: 10.1007 / BF00658275
24. ^ Ernest P. Pick: Topics in the study of water metabolism. In: Journal of the Mount Sinai Hospital. 13, 1945, pp. 167-178.
25. ↑ Richard Kolm, Ernst P. Pick: About the importance of potassium for the self-regulation of the heart. In: Pflüger's archive for the entire physiology of humans and animals. 185, 1920, pp. 235-247. doi: 10.1007 / BF01739999
26. ↑ Richard Kolm, Ernst P. Pick: About the importance of calcium for the excitability of the sympathetic cardiac nerve endings. In: Pflüger's archive for the entire physiology of humans and animals. 189, 1921, pp. 137-143. doi: 10.1007 / BF01738904
27. ↑ Makoto Ishihara and Ernst P. Pick: On the pharmacology of Purkinje threads. In: Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 29, 1926, pp. 355-372.
28. ↑ P. Heistracher, B. Pillat: Electrophysiological studies on the effect of quinidine on aconitine poisoning of heart muscle fibers. In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology. 244, 2962, pp. 48-62. doi: 10.1007 / BF00246117
29. ↑ Wyklicky 1990.
30. ↑ Hans H. Meyer, Ernst P. Pick: The experimental pharmacology as the basis of drug treatment. Eighth edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin and Vienna 1933, as well as the ninth edition. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin and Vienna 1936.
31. ^ Soukup 2004.
32. ↑ Lehr 1960.