Leopoldo De Meis, Italian-born Brazilian biochemist (Suez, Egypt 01 March 1938 – Rio de Janeiro 07 December 2014)
Authored 205 papers, 13 book and 23 book chapters (5,800 citations)
ACHIEVEMENTS
With W.O. Cruz, J.R. Magalhães & C.P. Von Dietrich developed isolated rabbit ear method for hemostasis in vivo (1962)
Showed the role that spermine and spermidine play in muscle relaxation (1967-8)
First found a Ca2+ pump in tissues others than skeletal muscle and showed acetyl phosphate as substrate by sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPases
Discovered the formation of low energy phosphoenzyme (1973) independently of P.D. Boyer
With H. Masuda demonstrated the occurrence of phosphorylation (ATP production) without a gradient (1973)
Demonstrated that the same chemical species can be of high and low energy depending on environment that around it (1970s), today a basic concept in cellular thermodynamics
With A.L. Vianna proposed the basic catalytic cycle of the Ca2+-ATPase (1979)
Proposed that the change in energy of hydrolysis that occurs during the process of energy transduction was indeed relative to a change in solvent structure around reactants and products at the catalytic site of enzymes (1989-93)
Proposed that catalytic site of mitochondrial ATP synthase undergoes a hydrophobic-hydrophilic transition during oxidative phosphorylation
Indicated that Ca2+-ATPase is able to handle the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis in such a way as to determine the amount used for Ca2+ transport and the amount that is dissipated as heat
With L.A. Ketzer, R.M. da Costa, I. R. de Andrade & M. Benchimol found sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPases inside mitochondria and that mitochondrial thermogenesis is activated by physiological Ca2+ concentrations (in rats brown adipose tissue) in 2010
HONOURS
Doctor Honoris Causa, Université Catholique de Louvain (1994)
Diploma, World Cultural Council (1986)
Chemistry Nobel Prize nominee
LINKS
http://www.jbc.org/content/287/21/16987.long#sec-17