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20 years of Ins(1,4,5)P3, and 40 years before

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Abstract

This year marks the 20th birthday of the discovery of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate as a second messenger. The background to this discovery is a complex story that goes back more than 50 years and involves a large cast of characters, both chemical and human.

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Figure 1: Four major contributors to the foundations of the Ins(1,4,5)P3 story in the 1950s and 1960s.
Figure 2: PI-PLC hydrolysis of inositol lipids.

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Acknowledgements

Some of the details in this article have come from past conversations with M. Hokin, P. Kemp, R. Dawson, Y. Nishizuka and N. Freinkel. The photographs in Figure 1 were kindly supplied by L. Hokin, M. Hokin and S. Hokin, by R. Dawson and by M. Lees. I am grateful to many colleagues for their helpful comments on early drafts, though mine is the final responsibility for what is a personal perspective. I thank the Royal Society for its support.

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    Robin F. Irvine

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Irvine, R. 20 years of Ins(1,4,5)P3, and 40 years before. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 4, 586–590 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1152

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