Hanns Möhler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hanns Möhler (born March 8, 1940 in Ehingen (Donau) ) is a German biochemist and pharmacologist .

Life

Möhler studied chemistry from 1959 to 1962 at the University of Bonn and biochemistry from 1962 to 1966 at the University of Tübingen , where - after a research stay at Michigan State University in 1967/1968 - he wrote 2 [Zwei] -Keto-3- in 1968. deoxy-6-phosphogluconate aldolase from Pseudomonas fluorescens: structure u. SH groups also graduated . He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Freiburg and at the Medical Research Council in London . In 1973 Möhle switched to industrial research at Hoffmann-La Roche ( Basel ). From 1977 he was a lecturer at the University of Freiburg, where he in 1978 with the signature biochemistry of GABA system's central nervous system: metabolism, Receptor, influence of drugs and changes in Parkinson's disease habilitation was in 1984 and an associate professor received.

In 1988 Möhler received a joint full professorship for pharmacology at the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich , where he was also director of the Institute for Pharmacology. In 2001 he took over the management of the local National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) for neurosciences . In 2005 Möhler retired. His successor at the NCCR was Martin E. Schwab , Möhler was still vice director under him.

Möhler is married and has two children.

Act

GABA receptor

Fear is at the center of Möhler's scientific work . It is about the underlying mechanisms in the central nervous system and how they are influenced by drugs, especially benzodiazepines . Benzodiazepines have an anxiolytic (anxiety-relieving), hypnotic (sleep-promoting), muscle-relaxing and anti-epileptic effect . Their long-term use often leads to dependence (see Harmful use of benzodiazepines ). If it is possible to separate the complex effects of the various benzodiazepines from one another, drugs could be developed that, for example, only have an anxiolytic effect, but have few undesirable side effects.

Möhler succeeded in identifying the benzodiazepine binding site on the nerve cells of the brain as part of the GABA receptors . GABA ( γ-aminobutyric acid ) is an important neurotransmitter that has an inhibitory effect on many functions and control circuits in the brain. Benzodiazepines bind to a specific part of the GABA receptors and thereby increase the inhibitory effect of GABA. Since GABA receptors are everywhere in the brain, the effect of the benzodiazepines is very complex.

Möhler also found out that there is not just a single GABA receptor, but that there are a number of subtypes of it, to which he could assign specific effects. Targeted point mutations made it possible to switch off individual components of the GABA receptors in knockout mice and thus to decipher their specific functions. Möhler demonstrated, for example, that one class of GABA receptors are responsible for the calming and anti-epileptic effects of the benzodiazepines, while another class has an anti-anxiety effect. In a strain of a knockout mouse in which a certain proportion of the GABA receptor had been switched off, certain fear reactions could be demonstrated, as they are also known in humans. When this mouse was given benzodiazepines, its behavior normalized. In the animal model , it was possible to prove for the first time that fear is also based on a genetic basis and that heredity and environment are related to each other when fear arises.

Awards (selection)

In 2015, a two-volume work was published in Möhler's honor: Diversity and Functions of GABA Receptors: A Tribute to Hanns Möhler .

Fonts

Biochemistry from Jungermann / Möhler

As an author:

  • With K. Jungermann: Biochemistry. A textbook for students of medicine, biology and pharmacy Springer-Verlag 1980

As editor:

  • With M. DaPrada: The Challenge of Neuropharmacology. Roche 1994
  • Pharmacology of GABA and Glycine Neurotransmission. Springer 2001
  • With SJ Enna: The GABA Receptors. Marcel Dekker 2007
  • With JM Monti and SR Pandi-Permal: GABA and Sleep; Functional and Clinical Aspects. Springer 2010

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NCCR Neuro - Neural Plasticity and Repair (2001-2013). In: snf.ch. Retrieved November 19, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Ilire Hasani, Robert Hoffmann: Academy of Europe: Mohler Hanns. In: ae-info.org. June 12, 2010, accessed November 19, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Hanns Möhler. In: wachterstiftung.org. Retrieved April 13, 2018 .
  4. ^ Synopsis of the winners of the Théodore Ott Prize at the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (samw.ch); Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ Golden Kraepelin Medal (as of 2006) ( Memento from January 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  6. ↑ On the trail of fear. In: mpg.de. November 24, 2003, accessed November 19, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Uwe Rudolph (Ed.): Diversity and Functions of GABA Receptors: A Tribute to Hanns Möhler, Part A. ISBN 978-0-12-802660-1
  8. ↑ Uwe Rudolph (Ed.): Diversity and Functions of GABA Receptors: A Tribute to Hanns Möhler. Part B. ISBN 978-0-12-802691-5

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Möhler, Hanns
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German biochemist and pharmacologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Ehingen (Danube)