- Email: [email protected]
Diane H. Russell
441
T i P S - N o v e m b e r 1989 [Vol. 10] -
Obituary
a
Diane H. Russell 1.0
0
mV
0
J
-6.3
-7.3
-5.3
-4.3 LOG[AMPA]
b
1.0 LOG M ~ 0
7.3
'3// -6.
' -5.3
' -4.3 LOG[AMPA]
-1.0
Fig. 1. a: Depolarizations (mV) produced by concentrations (t~M) of AMPA fitted to a logistic equation (Eqn 3): M = 1.026 mV, p - 2.066, K = 2.961 #M: exactly the same line is obtained with a fit to Eqn 5 but K = 9.422 ( = 2.9612°~8). b: A Hill plot with the first four points assuming M = 1.026 mV, log [y/(max - y)] is plotted against log (concentration); slope = 2.051, constant = - 0.958 and X-intercept = 0.467. The fifth point cannot be plotted (it is greater than max)and the sixth point lies well off the line.
Diane Haddock Russell, Professor and Chair of the University of South Florida's Department of Pharmacology, died on 16 September 1989. Dr Russell pioneered research into the role of polyamines in growth of normal and malignant cells, and more recently into psychoneuroimmunology. She summarized this latter work in a review 'New aspects of prolactin and immunity' in the January 1989 issue of TIPS. She was the first to demonstrate that ciclosporin may act to cause immunosuppression by inhibiting prolactin action in lymphoid cells. Her work has also suggested that prolactin receptors exist in cell nuclei and that they may be responsible for activation of nuclear protein kinase C activity, in line with other polypeptide growth factors. Dr Russell's career had an unconventional start. She was 28, with three children, w h e n she graduated from the College of Idaho. She gained her PhD in Zoophysiology from Washington State University. Following a postdoctoral position at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine she joined the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Arizona. She moved to USF in 1988. According to ISI, she was one of the top 25 Women in Science worldwide.
Psychopharmacology award 5) gives exactly the same fitted values (y calculated), M a n d p, and K' = 9.422 ~M (= KP). If a Hill plot is m a d e a s s u m i n g this m a x i m u m and u s i n g the first four results the slope is 2.051 and the intercept on the abcissa is 0.467, w h i c h gives K' = 10 (0.467 x 2.051) = 9.07 btM. In fact the intercept on the abcissa should be log K from the logistic fit (Eqn 3), w h i c h is 0.471. The data illustrate some of the problems of u s i n g the Hill e q u a t i o n with v e r y small or v e r y large results. The value for 20 ~tM is a p p a r e n t l y greater than m a x i m u m
so m u s t be o m i t t e d and if the result for 50 ~M is i n c l u d e d the Hill slope is m u c h flatter. Because the m e a s u r e m e n t s are voltages, not conductances, the value p = 2 does not indicate a bimolecular process but, with suitable data, a fit to the logistic e q u a t i o n is just as capable of assessing molecularity as the Hill equation.
References 1 Hill, A. V. (1913) Biochem. J. 7, 471-480 2 Parker, R. B. and Waud, D. R. (1971) J. Pharmacol. 177, 1-12 3 Barlow, R. B. (1983) Biodata Handling with Microcomputers, Elsevier
Two prizes of £250 each are to be awarded in 1990 by the British Association for Psychopharmacology, with funds provided by Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd, for outstanding research in basic psychopharmacology and clinical psychopharmacology, respectively. Applications are invited from research workers in the UK and Ireland under the age of 35 who are active in one or other of these fields. Applications should be submitted to Prof. Brian Leonard, President of BAP, Department of Pharmacology, University College Galway, Ireland, and should comprise: (1) a detailed CV; (2) three key published papers which have undergone peer review; (3) a 250-word resum6 of the applicant's achievements to date and plans for the future. Applications should be received before 31 January 1990.
T i P S - N o v e m b e r 1989 [Vol. 10] -
Obituary
a
Diane H. Russell 1.0
0
mV
0
J
-6.3
-7.3
-5.3
-4.3 LOG[AMPA]
b
1.0 LOG M ~ 0
7.3
'3// -6.
' -5.3
' -4.3 LOG[AMPA]
-1.0
Fig. 1. a: Depolarizations (mV) produced by concentrations (t~M) of AMPA fitted to a logistic equation (Eqn 3): M = 1.026 mV, p - 2.066, K = 2.961 #M: exactly the same line is obtained with a fit to Eqn 5 but K = 9.422 ( = 2.9612°~8). b: A Hill plot with the first four points assuming M = 1.026 mV, log [y/(max - y)] is plotted against log (concentration); slope = 2.051, constant = - 0.958 and X-intercept = 0.467. The fifth point cannot be plotted (it is greater than max)and the sixth point lies well off the line.
Diane Haddock Russell, Professor and Chair of the University of South Florida's Department of Pharmacology, died on 16 September 1989. Dr Russell pioneered research into the role of polyamines in growth of normal and malignant cells, and more recently into psychoneuroimmunology. She summarized this latter work in a review 'New aspects of prolactin and immunity' in the January 1989 issue of TIPS. She was the first to demonstrate that ciclosporin may act to cause immunosuppression by inhibiting prolactin action in lymphoid cells. Her work has also suggested that prolactin receptors exist in cell nuclei and that they may be responsible for activation of nuclear protein kinase C activity, in line with other polypeptide growth factors. Dr Russell's career had an unconventional start. She was 28, with three children, w h e n she graduated from the College of Idaho. She gained her PhD in Zoophysiology from Washington State University. Following a postdoctoral position at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine she joined the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Arizona. She moved to USF in 1988. According to ISI, she was one of the top 25 Women in Science worldwide.
Psychopharmacology award 5) gives exactly the same fitted values (y calculated), M a n d p, and K' = 9.422 ~M (= KP). If a Hill plot is m a d e a s s u m i n g this m a x i m u m and u s i n g the first four results the slope is 2.051 and the intercept on the abcissa is 0.467, w h i c h gives K' = 10 (0.467 x 2.051) = 9.07 btM. In fact the intercept on the abcissa should be log K from the logistic fit (Eqn 3), w h i c h is 0.471. The data illustrate some of the problems of u s i n g the Hill e q u a t i o n with v e r y small or v e r y large results. The value for 20 ~tM is a p p a r e n t l y greater than m a x i m u m
so m u s t be o m i t t e d and if the result for 50 ~M is i n c l u d e d the Hill slope is m u c h flatter. Because the m e a s u r e m e n t s are voltages, not conductances, the value p = 2 does not indicate a bimolecular process but, with suitable data, a fit to the logistic e q u a t i o n is just as capable of assessing molecularity as the Hill equation.
References 1 Hill, A. V. (1913) Biochem. J. 7, 471-480 2 Parker, R. B. and Waud, D. R. (1971) J. Pharmacol. 177, 1-12 3 Barlow, R. B. (1983) Biodata Handling with Microcomputers, Elsevier
Two prizes of £250 each are to be awarded in 1990 by the British Association for Psychopharmacology, with funds provided by Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd, for outstanding research in basic psychopharmacology and clinical psychopharmacology, respectively. Applications are invited from research workers in the UK and Ireland under the age of 35 who are active in one or other of these fields. Applications should be submitted to Prof. Brian Leonard, President of BAP, Department of Pharmacology, University College Galway, Ireland, and should comprise: (1) a detailed CV; (2) three key published papers which have undergone peer review; (3) a 250-word resum6 of the applicant's achievements to date and plans for the future. Applications should be received before 31 January 1990.