Rolf Zinkernagel | |
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.jpg) Zinkernagel in 2011 | |
| Born | (1944-01-06)6 January 1944 (age 82) |
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| Known for | Cytotoxic T cells |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Immunology |
| Institutions | University of Zurich |
| Thesis | The role of the H-2 gene complex in cell-mediated immunity to viral and bacterial infections in mice (1975) |
| Website | www |
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Rolf Martin ZinkernagelAC (born 6 January 1944) is a professor of experimentalimmunology at theUniversity of Zurich. Along withPeter C. Doherty, he shared the 1996Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of how theimmune system recognizes virus-infected cells.[2][3]
Zinkernagel received hisMD degree from theUniversity of Basel in 1970 and hisPhD from theAustralian National University in 1975.[4]
Zinkernagel is a member of theCancer Research Institute Scientific Advisory Council,[5] theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences,[6] TheNational Academy of Sciences,[7] theAmerican Philosophical Society,[8] and The Academy of Cancer Immunology. Zinkernagel was elected as a Corresponding Fellow to theAustralian Academy of Science also in 1996.
Together with theAustralianPeter C. Doherty he received the 1996Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of how theimmune system recognizes virus-infected cells. With this he became the 24th SwissNobel laureate. In 1999 he was awarded an honorary Companion of theOrder of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, for his scientific work with Doherty.[9]
Viruses infect host cells and reproduce inside them. Killer T-cells destroy those infected cells so that the viruses cannot reproduce. Zinkernagel and Doherty discovered that for killer T-cells to recognize infected cells, they had to recognize two molecules on the surface of the cell—not only the virus antigen, but also a molecule of themajor histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I). This dual recognition is mediated by the T-cell receptor. Although MHC molecules were first known for causing transplant rejection, Zinkernagel and Doherty demonstrated that MHC I–restricted recognition is also central to the immune control of viruses such as lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, establishing a key principle of antiviral immunity.[2]
In addition to the Nobel Prize, he also won theCloëtta Prize in 1981, the Cancer Research InstituteWilliam B. Coley Award in 1987, theOtto-Naegeli-Preis in 1988 and theAlbert Lasker Medical Research Award in 1995. In 1994 he became a member of theGerman Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[10][11][12]
including the Nobel Lecture December 1996 “Cellular Immune Recognition and the Biological Role of Major Transplantation Antigens” including the Nobel Lecture December 1996Cellular Immune Recognition and the Biological Role of Major Transplantation Antigens
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