Katalin Karikó

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Katalin Karikó (2020)

Katalin Karikó (born January 17, 1955 in Szolnok ) is a Hungarian biochemist living in the USA . Her research focuses on RNA -mediated immune activation. Together with the American immunologist Drew Weissman , she discovered the possibility of suppressing the immunogenicity of RNA through nucleoside modification . This technology enables the therapeutic use of mRNA and formed the basis for the development of mRNA -based COVID-19 vaccines ( RNA vaccine ).

Life

Katalin Karikó was born the daughter of a butcher . She graduated from high school in Kisújszállás . From 1973 she studied biology at the University of Szeged , where she also received her doctorate. During her time in Szeged she was already working on the synthesis of RNA . After the involuntary end of her postdoc position at the Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences , Katalin Karikó emigrated to the United States of America in 1985 with her husband Béla Francia, an engineer, and their daughter.

She accepted an invitation to Temple University in Philadelphia , where she worked for three years. She then lived in Washington for a year. From 1989 she worked at the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania . In 1998 she met the immunologist Drew Weissman , professor at the University of Pennsylvania, with whom she then researched the development of drugs based on mRNA. Together, the two founded a company, which Karikó was managing director. A specific drug development failed, and the patent for the technology they had obtained was sold by the university. Karikó's position as Research Assistant Professor was not renewed by the university, she was downgraded to a temporary postdoc position.

Despite these setbacks, Karikó remained loyal to RNA research. She finally succeeded in modifying the viral RNA molecules in such a way that they are no longer destroyed by the immune system in human cells . Karikó published the results together with Weissman. Derrick Rossi from Harvard University took the technology and developed it further. In 2010 he founded the company Moderna with colleagues . In Germany, the founders of Biontech , Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci , became aware of Karikó and offered her a job. Karikó has been Senior Vice President at Biontech since 2013 . In parallel, Karikó is Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania .

Karikó's daughter Susan Francia was a two-time Olympic champion and multiple world champion in rowing .

research

Karikó contributed over many years to the development of mRNA technologies, which form the basis for vaccines against COVID-19 and for drugs against cancer , strokes and cystic fibrosis . Kariko and colleagues succeeded in packaging the sensitive mRNA molecules in lipid molecules. Such tiny nanoparticles can be injected into animals and humans without triggering a dangerous immune reaction .

The decisive breakthrough came with the replacement of the original uridine molecules in the mRNAs with pseudouridines . In this way, optimal proteins (as antigens) can be achieved for therapy. Using the vaccinated mRNA, the treated person should produce the corresponding protein as an antigen for their own immunization against SARS-CoV-2 . The translation of the mRNA into a protein called cell biologists Translation . The translation could be increased significantly by giving the mRNA an improved 5'-cap structure at the front and a particularly long poly-A sequence at the back, at the 3'-end . Such in-vitro transcribed mRNAs form a new class of drugs that could play the role in gene therapy that was once intended for DNA.

Karikó is considered a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Medicine . A mural in her honor has existed in Budapest since 2021, as well as in Valencia.

honors and awards

Fonts (selection)

  • Anderson BR, Muramatsu H., Nallagatla SR, Bevilacqua PC, Sansing LH, Weissman D., Karikó K. Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA enhances translation by diminishing PKR activation. In: Nucleic Acids Research . Volume 38, Issue 17, September 2010, pp. 5884-5892.
  • Karikó K., Muramatsu H., Welsh FA, Ludwig J., Kato H., Akira S., Weissman D. Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA yields superior nonimmunogenic vector with increased translational capacity and biological stability In: Molecular Therapy: The Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy. Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2008, pp. 1833-1840.
  • Karikó K., Buckstein M., Ni H., Weissman D. Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA. In: Immunity . Volume 23, Issue 2, August 2005, pp. 165-175.
  • Karikó K., Weissman D., Welsh FA Inhibition of toll-like receptor and cytokine signaling - a unifying theme in ischemic tolerance. In: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism . Volume 24, Issue 11, November 2004, pp. 1288-1304.
  • Karikó K., Ni H., Capodici J., Lamphier M., Weissman D. mRNA is an endogenous ligand for Toll-like receptor 3. In: The Journal of Biological Chemistry . Volume 279, Issue 13, March 2004, pp. 12542-12550, doi: 10.1074 / jbc.M310175200 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Katalin Kariko, PhD. In: University of Pennsylvania . Accessed June 7, 2021 .
  2. ↑ Julia Kollewe: Covid vaccine technology pioneer: 'I never doubted it would work'. In: theguardian.com. The Guardian , November 21, 2020, accessed November 27, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Norbert Pardi, Steven Tuyishime, Hiromi Muramatsu, Katalin Kariko, Barbara L Mui, Ying K Tam, Thomas D Madden, Michael J Hope, Drew Weissman: Expression kinetics of nucleoside-modified mRNA delivered in lipid nanoparticles to mice by various routes. In: J Control Release . 217, 2015, pp. 345–351, doi: 10.1016 / j.jconrel.2015.08.007 ( nih.gov [PDF; 616 kB]).
  4. ↑ Katalin Karikó, Hiromi Muramatsu, Frank A Welsh, János Ludwig, Hiroki Kato, Shizuo Akira, Drew Weissman: Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA yields superior nonimmunogenic vector with increased translational capacity and biological stability. In: Mol Ther . 16 (11), 2008, pp. 1833-1840, doi: 10.1038 / mt.2008.200 ( nih.gov [PDF; 833 kB]).
  5. ↑ Katalin Karikó: In vitro-transcribed mRNA therapeutics: Out of the shadows and into the spotlight. In: Mol Ther. 27, 4, 2019: 691–692, doi: 10.1016 / j.ymthe.2019.03.009 ( nih.gov [PDF; 184 kB]).
  6. ↑ Drew Weissman, Katalin Kariko: mRNA: Fulfilling the promise of gene therapy. In: Mol Ther. 23, 9, 2015: 1416–1417, doi: 10.1038 / mt.2015.138 ( nih.gov [PDF; 148 kB]).
  7. ↑ Marlène Von Arx: “I was probably the first to be officially vaccinated in the USA”. In: Bluewin . April 16, 2021, accessed June 7, 2021 .
  8. ↑ Karla Sophie Kröner: She smuggled her start-up capital in the teddy bear: Hungarian is the "mother" of corona vaccines. In: Focus . December 9, 2020, accessed June 7, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Budapest mural pays tribute to Katalin Kariko, Hungarian-born pioneer behind COVID-19 vaccine. August 28, 2021, accessed September 1, 2021 .
  10. ↑ La UPV y Las Naves homenajean a Katalin Karikó, bioquímica húngara clave en el éxito de las vacunas de ARNm contra la COVID-19. In: el periòdic. September 10, 2021, accessed September 15, 2021 (Spanish).
  11. ↑ Hungarian Katalin Biochemist Wins Kariko Public Media's Person of the Year Award. In: hungarytoday.hu. December 30, 2020, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  12. ↑ Katalin Karikó. In: ae-info.org/. Academia Europaea, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  13. ↑ Szeged díszpolgára 2021-ben: Karikó Katalin. In: szeged.hu. January 19, 2021, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  14. ↑ Katalin Kariko Accepts Szeged Honorary Title. In: dteurope.com. Diplomacy & Trade, March 19, 2021, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  15. ^ Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research. Brandeis University , accessed March 31, 2021 .
  16. ↑ Rosenstiel Award given to pioneering scientists behind COVID-19 vaccines. In: Brandeis Now. January 21, 2021, accessed March 21, 2021 .
  17. ↑ Kariko Katalin díszdoktori CIMET kap a Szegedi Tudományegyetemtől. In: szeged.hu. January 26, 2021, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  18. ^ Index - Domestic - Katalin Karikó and Béla Merkely also received the Széchenyi Prize. In: newsbeezer.com. March 15, 2021, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  19. ↑ Award - Biontech research director Katalin Karikó receives Exner medal. In: Wiener Zeitung . March 21, 2021, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  20. ^ Wilhelm Exner medals in 2021 to Katalin Karikó and Luisa Torsi. In: OTS.at. March 21, 2021, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  21. ^ Building the Foundation Award. ResearchAmerica, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  22. ↑ Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Philip Felgner, Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci, Derrick Rossi y Sarah Gilbert, Premio Princesa de Asturias de Investigación Científica y Técnica. In: press release. Fundación Princesa de Asturias, June 23, 2021, accessed June 28, 2021 (Spanish).
  23. ↑ Katalin Karikó - High Swiss award for inventor of the mRNA vaccine. In: 20 minutes. June 17, 2021, accessed June 28, 2021 .
  24. ↑ Katalin Karikó Receives American 2021 Great Immigrants Award. In: Hungary Today. July 2, 2021, accessed July 3, 2021 .
  25. ^ Carnegie Corporation of New York: 2021 Great Immigrants. Retrieved July 3, 2021 .
  26. ↑ Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman Awarded Horwitz Prize for Pioneering Research on COVID-19 Vaccines. Columbia University, August 12, 2021; accessed August 19, 2021 .
  27. ↑ University of Würzburg honors Katalin Karikó: the woman behind the vaccine breakthrough. Mainpost, August 25, 2021, accessed August 27, 2021 .
  28. ↑ Biochemist Karikó receives Semmelweis Prize. In: Hungary Today. May 25, 2021, accessed August 31, 2021 .
  29. ↑ Dr. Katalin Karikó receives 2022 Vilcek Prize for Excellence for pioneering vaccine research. In: Vilcek Foundation. June 8, 2021, accessed July 14, 2021 (American English).
  30. ↑ Katalin Karikó, Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin receive the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2022. September 21, 2021, accessed on September 21, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Karikó, Katalin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian biochemist
BIRTH DATE 17th January 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Szolnok