Box 1 | Nobel Prizes for discoveries about cyclic nucleotides and signal transduction 

The importance of this regulatory system has been recognized by the award of no less than five different Nobel Prizes. These include the original prize to Earl W. Sutherland Jr for his pioneering initial discoveries, as well as more recent ones to Edwin G. Krebs and Edmond H. Fischer, largely for their discovery of the first molecular mechanism by which cyclic AMP works. The work of Martin Rodbell and Alfred G. Gilman on the G-protein-coupled receptors that regulate cyclic-nucleotide synthesis also formed the basis of an award. cGMP trailed behind a bit, but the pioneering work of Ferid Murad, Louis J. Ignarro and Robert F. Furchgott was also recognized by a Nobel Prize. Finally, although not given entirely for work on cyclic nucleotides, the recent award to Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system stems in large part from the work on functional effects of cAMP and cGMP in the nervous system. This is an amazing record for such simple second-messenger compounds, and emphasizes the widespread importance of the regulatory systems that underlie their functions. A list of the awards and a photograph and brief description of each of the awardees are shown.

1971 — Earl W. Sutherland Jr, for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of action of hormones through cAMP.

1992 — Edmond H. Fischer and Edwin G. Krebs, for their discoveries concerning reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological regulatory mechanism.

1994 — Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell, for their discovery of G proteins and the roles of these proteins in signal transduction in cells.

1998 — Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad, for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide and cGMP as signalling molecules in the cardiovascular system.

2000 — Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel, for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system.

Images © The Nobel Foundation.

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