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Krzysztof Palczewski

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Krzysztof Palczewski
Induction into the National Academy of Sciences -- 4/29/2023
Born(1957-06-27)June 27, 1957
Syców, Poland
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma mater
  • Technical University of Wroclaw (PhD in Biochemistry, 1986)
  • University of Florida (Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1986-1988)
Known for
  • phototransduction
  • the visual cycle
  • rhodopsin research
Awards
  • Member, National Academy of Sciences (2022)
  • Member, National Academy of Medicine (2019)
  • Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2011)
Scientific career
Fields
  • Biochemistry
  • Structural Biology
  • Pharmacology
Institutions
  • University of California, Irvine (2018-present)
  • Case Western Reserve University (2005-2018)
  • University of Washington (1992-2005)
Doctoral advisorMarian Kochman
Other academic advisorsPaul Hargrave
Websiteophthalmology.uci.edu/about/faculty/kpalczew

Krzysztof Palczewski, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, is a Polish-born American biochemist and pharmacologist serving as a Donald Bren Professor and Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Irvine. He holds the Irving H. Leopold Chair of Ophthalmology and is the founding Director of the Center for Translational Vision Research at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.

Biography

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His master and doctoral degrees are from the University of Wrocław (1980) and the Wrocław University of Science and Technology (1986) respectively. In 1986, he joined Paul Hargrave's laboratory at that time leading the field in studies of rhodopsin at the University of Florida, thus launching a scientific career in the U.S. that brought him from the biochemistry and structural biology of the visual cycle components to drug discovery and novel treatments of eye diseases. He joined the faculty of the University of Washington (1992-2005), rising to the level of Professor in the departments of Ophthalmology, Pharmacology and Chemistry, including an appointment at the E.K. Bishop Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology. There, he published his most cited work to date, Crystal Structure of Rhodopsin: A G protein-coupled receptor.[1] In 2005, he moved to Case Western Reserve University to lead the Department of Pharmacology and earned the title of Distinguished University Professor in 2016. He left in 2018 to take the position of Irving H. Leopold Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine in 2018. He is the founding Director of the Center for Translational Vision Research in UC Irvine's Gavin Herbert Eye Institute where he develops new classical and genome editing therapies against inherited retinal degenerations.[2]

Scientific contributions

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He is best known for determining the crystal structure of rhodopsin, which led to new insights into the function of G protein-coupled receptors.[1] His work on the visual cycle has led to both advances in understanding hereditary blindness and novel pharmacological treatments that can slow retinal degeneration. His work has shed light on juvenile- and age-related macular degeneration, suggesting approaches to novel therapeutics for these diseases. His team's efforts indicate that Two-photon imaging of the human eye can safely reveal the visual system's sub-cellular architecture and that humans can detect infrared light due to simultaneous two-photon absorption. The technical breakthroughs in noninvasive animal and human imaging have the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and evaluation of patients with AMD, both in monitoring treatment efficacy and detecting early disease. Recent studies by his team have demonstrated both structural insights into rhodopsin modulation[3] and mutation-agnostic treatment approaches for retinopathy.[4] He and his collaborators applied a new generation of CRISPR technology called base editing and prime editing as a treatment for inherited retinal diseases.[2] The implications of his research have the potential to lead to new treatments for many other inherited diseases.

Selected honors & Awards

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  • 1996 – Cogan Award, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
  • 2011 – Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
  • 2014 – Friedenwald Award from The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
  • 2014 – Beckman-Argyros Award in Vision Research, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
  • 2015 – Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (foreign member)
  • 2018 – Paul Kayser International Award for Retina Research from Retina Research Foundation
  • 2019 – The National Academy of Medicine member
  • 2021 – Donald Bren Professor, University of California, Irvine
  • 2022 – The National Academy of Sciences member
  • 2022 – The Goodman and Gilman Award in Receptor Pharmacology from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • 2023-2024 – The Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Research, University of California, Irvine

Personal Life

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He married Grazyna Palczewska (nee Szafert), an accomplished biomedical engineer. The couple collaborates on the development and application of new instruments to study eye in health, disease and therapy. They have two sons, Michal and Greg.

Highly-Impactful Papers

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  1. ^ a b Palczewski K, Kumasaka T, Hori T, Behnke CA, Motoshima H, Fox BA, Le Trong I, Teller DC, Okada T, Stenkamp RE, Yamamoto M, Miyano M (August 2000). "Crystal structure of rhodopsin: A G protein-coupled receptor". Science. 289 (5480): 739–45. doi:10.1126/science.289.5480.739. PMID 10926528.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Suh S, Choi EH, Leinonen H, Foik AT, Newby GA, Yeh WH, Dong Z, Kiser PD, Lyon DC, Liu DR, Palczewski K (February 2021). "Restoration of visual function in adult mice with an inherited retinal disease via adenine base editing". Nat Biomed Eng. 5 (2): 169–178. doi:10.1038/s41551-020-00632-6. PMC 7885272. PMID 33077938.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Wu A, Salom D, Hong JD, Tworak A, Watanabe K, Pardon E, Steyaert J, Kandori H, Katayama K, Kiser PD, Palczewski K (August 2023). "Structural basis for the allosteric modulation of rhodopsin by nanobody binding to its extracellular domain". Nat Commun. 14 (1): 5209. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40911-9. PMC 10457330. PMID 37626045.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Leinonen H, Zhang J, Occelli LM, Seemab U, Choi EH, L P Marinho LF, Querubin J, Kolesnikov AV, Galinska A, Kordecka K, Hoang T, Lewandowski D, Lee TT, Einstein EE, Einstein DE, Dong Z, Kiser PD, Blackshaw S, Kefalov VJ, Tabaka M, Foik A, Petersen-Jones SM, Palczewski K (July 2024). "A combination treatment based on drug repurposing demonstrates mutation-agnostic efficacy in pre-clinical retinopathy models". Nat Commun. 15 (1): 5943. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50033-5. PMC 11251169. PMID 39009597.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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