From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Koichi Tanaka (Japanese: 田中 耕一 Tanaka Kōichi) (born August 3, 1959) is
a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
2002 for developing a novel method for mass spectrometric analyses of
biological macromolecules.[1][2]
Tanaka was born and raised in Toyama, Japan. He attended Toyama Chubu
High School in Toyama City. In 1983, he graduated from Tohoku
University with a bachelor's degree in engineering. As of 2008,
he is the only person without a post-bachelor's degree to have won
a Nobel Prize in a scientific field. After graduation, he joined Shimadzu
Corporation, where he engaged in the development of mass
spectrometers.
For mass spectrometry analyses of a macromolecule, such as a protein, the analyte must be
ionized and vaporized by laser
irradiation. The problem is that the direct irradiation of an
intense laser pulse on a macromolecule causes cleavage of the
analyte into tiny fragments and the loss of its structure. In
February 1985, Tanaka found that by using a mixture of ultra fine
metal powder in glycerol
as a matrix, an analyte can be ionized without losing its
structure. His work was filed as a patent application in 1985, and
after the patent application was made public reported at the Annual
Conference of the Mass Spectrometry Society of Japan held in Kyoto, in May 1987 and became known
as soft laser desorption (SLD).[3]
However, there was some criticism about his winning the prize,
saying that contribution by two German scientists, Franz
Hillenkamp and Michael Karas was also big enough not to
be dismissed, and therefore they should also be included as prize
winners. This is because they first reported in 1985 a method, with
higher sensitivity using a small organic compound as a matrix, that
they named Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization
(MALDI).[4] Also
Tanaka's SLD is not used currently for biomolecules analysis,
meanwhile MALDI is widely used in mass spectrometry research
laboratories. But while MALDI was developed prior to SLD, it was
not used to ionize proteins
until after Tanaka's report.[5]
References
- ^
Tanaka, K.; Waki, H.; Ido, Y.;
Akita, S.; Yoshida, Y.; Yoshida, T. (1988). "Protein and Polymer
Analyses up to m/z 100 000 by Laser Ionization Time-of flight Mass
Spectrometry". Rapid Commun Mass
Spectrom 2 (20): 151–3. doi:10.1002/rcm.1290020802.
- ^
"Biographical Snapshots of
Famous Women and Minority Chemists: Snapshot". http://www.jce.divched.org/JCEWWW/Features/eChemists/document.php?chemid=62. Retrieved
2008-08-18.
- ^
Markides, K; Gräslund, A. "Advanced information on the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002" (PDF).
http://nobelprize.org/chemistry/laureates/2002/chemadv02.pdf.
- ^
Karas, M.; Bachmann, D.; Hillenkamp,
F. (1985). "Influence of the Wavelength in High-Irradiance
Ultraviolet Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry of Organic
Molecules". Anal. Chem.
57: 2935–9. doi:10.1021/ac00291a042.
- ^
Karas M, Hillenkamp F (1988). "Laser desorption ionization
of proteins with molecular masses exceeding 10,000 daltons".
Anal. Chem. 60 (20): 2299–301. doi:10.1021/ac00171a028. PMID 3239801. http://www.klinikum.uni-muenster.de/institute/impb/research/hillenkamp/ac_60_1988_2299.pdf.
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