Julius Axelrod

Julius Axelrod (May 30, 1912 – December 29, 2004)[1] was an American biochemist. He won a share of
the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler.[2][3][4][5]
The Nobel Committee honored him for his work on the release and reuptake of catecholamine
neurotransmitters, a class of chemicals in the brain that include epinephrine, norepinephrine, and, as was
later discovered, dopamine. Axelrod also made major contributions to the understanding of the pineal
gland and how it is regulated during the sleep-wake cycle.[6][7][8]

Education and early life

Axelrod was born in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Molly (née Leichtling)
and Isadore Axelrod, a basket weaver.[9] He received his bachelor's degree in biology from the College of
the City of New York in 1933. Axelrod wanted to become a physician, but was rejected from every
medical school to which he applied. He worked briefly as a laboratory technician at New York University,
then in 1935 he got a job with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene testing
vitamin supplements added to food. While working at the Department of Health, he attended night school
and received his master's in sciences degree from New York University in 1941.

Research

Analgesic research
In 1946, Axelrod took a position working under Bernard Brodie at Goldwater Memorial Hospital. The
research experience and mentorship Axelrod received from Brodie would launch him on his research
career. Brodie and Axelrod's research focused on how analgesics (pain-killers) work. During the 1940s,
users of non-aspirin analgesics were developing a blood condition known as methemoglobinemia.
Axelrod and Brodie discovered that acetanilide, the main ingredient of these pain-killers, was to blame.
They found that one of the metabolites also was an analgesic. They recommended that this metabolite,
acetaminophen (paracetamol, Tylenol), be used instead.

Catecholamine research
In 1949, Axelrod began work at the National Heart Institute, forerunner of the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He examined the mechanisms
and effects of caffeine, which led him to an interest in the sympathetic nervous system and its main
neurotransmitters, epinephrine and norepinephrine. During this time, Axelrod also conducted research on
codeine, morphine, methamphetamine, and ephedrine and performed some of the first experiments on
LSD. Realizing that he could not advance his career without a PhD, he took a leave of absence from the
NIH in 1954 to attend George Washington University
Medical School. Allowed to submit some of his Julius Axelrod
previous research toward his degree, he graduated one
year later, in 1955. Axelrod then returned to the NIH
and began some of the key research of his career.

Axelrod received his Nobel Prize for his work on the

release, reuptake, and storage of the neurotransmitters
epinephrine and norepinephrine, also known as
adrenaline and noradrenaline. Working on monoamine
oxidase (MAO) inhibitors in 1957, Axelrod showed
that catecholamine neurotransmitters do not merely
stop working after they are released into the synapse.
Instead, neurotransmitters are recaptured ("reuptake")
by the pre-synaptic nerve ending, and recycled for later
transmissions. He theorized that epinephrine is held in
tissues in an inactive form and is liberated by the Born May 30, 1912
nervous system when needed. This research laid the New York City, U.S.
groundwork for later selective serotonin reuptake Died December 29, 2004 (aged 92)
inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac, which block the Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
reuptake of another neurotransmitter, serotonin.
Alma mater City College of New York (BS)
In 1958, Axelrod also discovered and characterized the New York University (MS)
enzyme catechol-O-methyl transferase, which is George Washington University
involved in the breakdown of catecholamines.[10] (PhD)
Known for Catecholamine metabolism
Spouse Sally Taub
Pineal gland research ​
​(m. 1938; died 1992)​
Some of Axelrod's later research focused on the pineal
Children Two sons - Paul and Alfred
gland. He and his colleagues showed that the hormone
melatonin is generated from tryptophan, as is the Awards Gairdner Foundation
neurotransmitter serotonin. The rates of synthesis and International Award (1967)
release follows the body's circadian rhythm driven by Nobel Prize in Physiology or
the suprachiasmatic nucleus within the hypothalamus. Medicine (1970)
Axelrod and colleagues went on to show that ForMemRS (1979)[1]
melatonin had wide-ranging effects throughout the
Scientific career
central nervous system, allowing the pineal gland to
function as a biological clock. He was elected a Fellow Fields Biochemistry

of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Institutions National Institutes of Health
1971.[11] He continued to work at the National Institute Academic Bernard Brodie
of Mental Health at the NIH until his death in 2004. advisors
Many of his papers and awards are held at the National Library of
Medicine.[12]

Awards and honors

Axelrod was awarded the Gairdner Foundation International
Award in 1967 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in
1970. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society
(ForMemRS) in 1979.[1] In 1992, he was awarded the Ralph W. Julius Axelrod working at the
Gerard Prize in Neuroscience. He was elected to the American blackboard on the structure of
catecholamines in 1976
Philosophical Society in 1995.[13]

Research trainees
Solomon Snyder, Irwin Kopin, Ronald W. Holz, Rudi Schmid, Bruce R. Conklin, Ron M. Burch, Juan M.
Saavedra, Marty Zatz, Michael Brownstein, Chris Felder, Lewis Landsberg, Robert Kanterman, Richard
J. Wurtman.

Personal life
Axelrod injured his left eye when an ammonia bottle in the lab exploded; he would wear an eyepatch for
the rest of his life. Although he became an atheist early in life and resented the strict upbringing of his
parents' religion, he identified with Jewish culture and joined several international fights against anti-
Semitism.[14] His wife of 53 years, Sally Taub Axelrod, died in 1992. At his death, on December 29,
2004, he was survived by two sons, Paul and Alfred, and three grandchildren.

Political views
After receiving the Nobel Prize in 1970, Axelrod used his visibility to advocate several science policy
issues. In 1973 U.S. President Richard Nixon created an agency with the specific goal of curing cancer.
Axelrod, along with fellow Nobel-laureates Marshall W. Nirenberg and Christian Anfinsen, organized a
petition by scientists opposed to the new agency, arguing that by focusing solely on cancer, public
funding would not be available for research into other, more solvable, medical problems. Axelrod also
lent his name to several protests against the imprisonment of scientists in the Soviet Union. Axelrod was a
member of the Board of Sponsors of the Federation of American Scientists and the International
Academy of Science, Munich.

See also
List of Jewish Nobel laureates

References
1. Iversen, L. (2006). "Julius Axelrod. 30 May 1912 -- 29 December 2004: Elected ForMemRS
1979". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 52: 1–13.
doi:10.1098/rsbm.2006.0002 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsbm.2006.0002). PMID 18543469
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18543469). S2CID 39140897 (https://api.semanticscholar.
org/CorpusID:39140897).
2. Udenfriend, S. (1970). "Nobel prize: 3 share 1970 award for medical research. 1. Von Euler
and Axelrod". Science. 170 (3956): 422–423. doi:10.1126/science.170.3956.422 (https://doi.
org/10.1126%2Fscience.170.3956.422). PMID 4394111 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4
394111).
3. Raju, T. N. (1999). "The Nobel chronicles. 1970: Bernard Katz (b 1911), Ulf Svante von
Euler (1905-1983), and Julius Axelrod (b 1912)". Lancet. 354 (9181): 873.
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(99)80056-7 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2899%2980
056-7). PMID 10485764 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10485764). S2CID 54313055 (htt
ps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:54313055).
4. Shafrir, E. (1994). "Julius Axelrod, Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler--Nobel Prize winners for
the discovery of mechanisms of nerve signal transmission". Israel Journal of Medical
Sciences. 30 (11): 869. PMID 7982784 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7982784).
5. Shampo, M. A.; Kyle, R. A. (1994). "Julius Axelrod--American biochemist and Nobel Prize
winner". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 69 (2): 136. doi:10.1016/s0025-6196(12)61039-8 (https://
doi.org/10.1016%2Fs0025-6196%2812%2961039-8). PMID 8309264 (https://pubmed.ncbi.n
lm.nih.gov/8309264).
6. Coyle, J. T. (2005). "Julius Axelrod (1912–2004)" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fsj.mp.400165
0). Molecular Psychiatry. 10 (3): 225–226. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001650 (https://doi.org/10.10
38%2Fsj.mp.4001650). PMID 15738927 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15738927).
7. Snyder, S. H. (2005). "Obituary: Julius Axelrod (1912–2004)" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F43
3593a). Nature. 433 (7026): 593. Bibcode:2005Natur.433..593S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.e
du/abs/2005Natur.433..593S). doi:10.1038/433593a (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F433593a).
PMID 15703735 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15703735). S2CID 4413335 (https://api.s
emanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4413335).
8. Pincock, S. (2005). "Julius Axelrod" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2805%29178
14-3). The Lancet. 365 (9457): 380. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)17814-3 (https://doi.org/10.
1016%2FS0140-6736%2805%2917814-3). PMID 15688459 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/15688459). S2CID 38956854 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:38956854).
9. "American Jewish Recipients of the Nobel Prize" (http://www.fau.edu/library/nobel20.htm).
Fau.edu. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
10. Tomchick, Robert; Axelrod, Julius (September 1958). "Enzymatic O-Methylation of
Epinephrine and Other Catechols – Axelrod and Tomchick 233 (3): 702 – Journal of
Biological Chemistry" (http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/233/3/702). Journal of Biological
Chemistry. 233 (3): 702–705. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)64731-3 (https://doi.org/10.101
6%2FS0021-9258%2818%2964731-3).
11. "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A" (http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMe
mbers/ChapterA.pdf) (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 28,
2011.
12. "Julius Axelrod Papers 1910-2004 (bulk 1946-1999)" (http://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/axelrod).
National Library of Medicine.
13. "APS Member History" (https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Julius+Axelro
d&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advance
d). search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
14. Craver, Carl F. (2008). "Axelrod, Julius". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
Vol. 19. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 122.

Further reading
The Julius Axelrod Papers (https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/HH/) – Profiles in Science, National
Library of Medicine
Snyder, S. H. (2007). "Julius Axelrod". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
151 (1): 81–90. PMID 18175546 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18175546).
Insel, T. R. (2006). "Introduction" (https://zenodo.org/record/1232794). Cellular and
Molecular Neurobiology. 26 (4–6): 4 p preceding 343, 343–1055. doi:10.1007/s10571-006-
9074-4 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10571-006-9074-4). PMID 16758321 (https://pubmed.n
cbi.nlm.nih.gov/16758321). S2CID 264005277 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:26
4005277).
"Julius Axelrod (1912-2004)". Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 49 (2): 251–
252. 2005. PMID 16247945 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16247945).
Iversen, L. (1992). "Remembrance: Leslie L. Iversen, Merck Sharp & Dohme Research
Laboratories, Neuroscience Research Centre, Harlow, England. "The Axelrod Lab, 1964-
1965" ". Endocrinology. 131 (1): 4. doi:10.1210/endo.131.1.1612020 (https://doi.org/10.121
0%2Fendo.131.1.1612020). PMID 1612020 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1612020).
Saavedra, Juan M. (1988). "Special issue: Tribute to Julius Axelrod on the occasion of his
75th birthday". Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology. 8 (1): 1–138. doi:10.1007/bf00712919
(https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fbf00712919). PMID 3042140 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3
042140). S2CID 11440945 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:11440945).
Anon (1970). "Nobel Prizes: Neurophysiologists Honoured (Ulf von Euler, Julius Axelrod,
Bernard Katz)" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F228304a0). Nature. 228 (5269): 304.
doi:10.1038/228304a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F228304a0). PMID 4319740 (https://pubm
ed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4319740). S2CID 43451577 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4
3451577).
Nobel Prize Biography (http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1970/axelrod-bio.html)
Autobiography (for Society for Neuroscience; 2.2MB pdf) (http://www.sfn.org/skins/main/pdf/
history_of_neuroscience/hon_vol_1/c2.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120307
154525/http://www.sfn.org/skins/main/pdf/history_of_neuroscience/hon_vol_1/c2.pdf) March
7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
Julius Axelrod Papers (1910–2004) (http://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=nlmf
indaid;id=navbarbrowselink;cginame=findaid-idx;cc=nlmfindaid;view=reslist;subview=standa
rd;didno=axelrod) – National Library of Medicine finding aid
Obituary (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35661-2004Dec29.html) at
washingtonpost.com
Kanigel, Robert, "Apprentice to Genius" ISBN 0-8018-4757-5.
 Sabbatini, R.M.E.: Neurons and synapses. The history of its discovery IV. Chemical
transmission (http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n17/history/neurons5_i.htm). Brain & Mind,
2004.
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir (http://www.nasonline.org/publications/b
iographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/axelrod-julius.pdf)
Interview with Dr. Axelrod in the NIH Record (https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192225/
http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/PDF_Archive/1991%20pdfs/19910219.pdf), Feb. 19, 1991

External links
Julius Axelrod (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/396) on Nobelprize.org

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