My favorite pyruvate carboxylase

Abstract

Having completed a PhD in molecular and cellular biology in mammalian reproduction at the University of Sydney, my first postdoctoral appointment began early in 1965 in the laboratory of Sir Hans Krebs at Oxford University where I had the pleasure of working with Dr Eric Newsholme on the regulation of gluconeogenesis and glycolysis during fetal development. My introduction to Pyruvate Carboxylase (PC) came early in 1966 when Michael Scrutton arrived back in Oxford to submit his D.Phil. thesis after spending a remarkably productive time working on PC in the laboratory of its discoverer, Professor Merton Utter, at Western Reserve University Medical School, Cleveland, Ohio. Not surprisingly, Michael bubbled with infectious enthusiasm about PC, and presented an outstanding seminar to the Department. In late 1966 I moved to Professor Utter’s group and had an invaluable and enjoyable experience broadening my skills and filling some of the many gaps in my knowledge, particularly in biophysical techniques. The co-discoverer of PC, Professor Bruce Keech, returned to Cleveland in 1968 on sabbatical leave from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and we soon established an effective and agreeable collaboration. This collaboration was renewed in late 1969 when I arrived in Adelaide, where I secured a Faculty position in 1970, and continued until Bruce retired in 1983.