1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Nutrition
  4. Volume 23, 2003
  5. Article

Annual Review of Nutrition

Volume 23, 2003

R R R R R

Abstract

▪  

Some of us who were born in the middle of Europe between World Wars I and II had to face quite a few unusual challenges that we all met in different ways. I was born and raised in Prague, Czechoslovakia, a country at the time of my birth that was governed by a Western style of democracy, which was later destroyed by the occupation by Nazi Germany and subsequently by the takeover by the equally cruel Communists. Life required special means of adaptation to the changing living conditions and a great deal of luck to survive. After graduating from the School of Technology, I started working in the Department of Medicine at Charles University in Prague as a clinical chemist in endocrinology. This work was followed with training in basic biochemistry and the study of metabolic changes in stress. This rather diversified research, due to my changing of workplaces, led to the findings that diet can change enzymatic activity of liver tryptophan oxygenase. For a short time I worked on the metabolism of cyclic AMP in , and at the age of 41, I made a risky move and succeeded in escaping with my family from the “paradise of communism.” The reasons for this decision will become clear. After settling in the United States, I worked on the mechanism of activation of liver tryptophan oxygenase by cyclic AMP and eventually moved to the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. There I initially worked on the mechanism of action of steroid hormones and finally on the molecular mechanism of action of retinoids, retinol, and retinoic acid. Also in cooperation with neonatologists, I initiated studies on prematurely born human neonates which led to successful supplementation of these patients with vitamin A. The work from my laboratory and my coworkers eventually became recognized.

“Who does not remember the past, is condemned to repeat it.”

     

Keyword(s): Autobiography, cyclic AMP, steroid hormones, stress, tryptophan oxygenase, vitamin A
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.nutr.23.011702.073155
2003-07-01
2024-05-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/nutr/23/1/annurev.nutr.23.011702.073155.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.nutr.23.011702.073155&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Bashor MM, Toft DO, Chytil F. 1973. In vitro binding of retinol to rat tissue components Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 70:3483–87
  2. Bollag W. 1996. The retinoid revolution.. FASEB J. 10:938–39 [Google Scholar]
  3. Brana H, Chytil F. 1966. Splitting of the cyclic 3′,5′ adenosine monophosphate in cell-free system of Escherichia coli.. Folia Microbiol. 11:43–46 [Google Scholar]
  4. Bures J, Ciganek L, Vinar O. 1991. Neuroscience in Czechoslovakia.. Trends Neurosci. 14:11–13 [Google Scholar]
  5. Chytil F. 1965. Some properties of adaptive enzymes in the rat.. Czech. Chem. Commun. 26:1393–98 [Google Scholar]
  6. Chytil F. 1965. Mammalian beta-galactosidases.. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 19:630–39 [Google Scholar]
  7. Chytil F. 1968. Activation of liver tryptophan oxygenase by adenosine 3′,5′-phosphate and by other purine derivatives.. J. Biol. Chem. 243:893–99 [Google Scholar]
  8. Chytil F. 1984. Retinoic acid: biochemistry, pharmacology and therapeutic use.. Pharmacol. Rev. 36:935–1005 [Google Scholar]
  9. Chytil F. 1996. Retinoids in lung development.. FASEB J. 10:986–92 [Google Scholar]
  10. Chytil F, Hruza Z. 1958. Metabolic changes in trauma-resistant rats following trauma.. Canad. J. Physiol. Biochem. 36:457–64 [Google Scholar]
  11. Chytil F, Spelsberg TC. 1974. Tissue differences in antigenic properties of non-histone protein-DNA complexes.. Nature 233:215–18 [Google Scholar]
  12. De Luca LM. 1977. The direct involvement of vitamin A in glycosyl transfer reactions of mammalian membranes.. Vitam. Horm. 35:1–57 [Google Scholar]
  13. Giguere V, Ong ES, Seigi P, Evans RM. 1987. Identification of a receptor for the morphogen retinoic acid.. Nature 330:624–29 [Google Scholar]
  14. Haq RU, Chytil F. 1988. Early effects of retinol and retinoic acid on protein synthesis in retinol deficient rat testes.. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 151:53–60 [Google Scholar]
  15. Hoberman J. 2001. When guilt divorced the facts.. New York Times, Sep.2, p. AR 17
  16. Hudlicka O. 1991. Czech and Slovak physiologists living abroad.. Physiol. Res. 40:29–39 [Google Scholar]
  17. Julian JA, Chytil F. 1970. Participation of xanthine oxidase in the activation of liver tryptophan pyrrolase.. J. Biol. Chem. 245:1161–68 [Google Scholar]
  18. Koldovky O, Chytil F. 1965. Postnatal development of beta-galactosidase activity in the small intestine of the rat.. Effect of adrenalectomy and diet Biochem. J. 94:266–70 [Google Scholar]
  19. Kreeger KY. 1995. Howard Hughes Institutes makes a big show in 1995.. Class of NAS Members Scientist 9:3–9 [Google Scholar]
  20. Lloyd D. 2001. Past times.. Biochemist par excellence Biochemist 23:57–59 [Google Scholar]
  21. McLaren DS. 2001. Textbook writers continue to ignore vitamin A deficiency.. Sight Life Newsl. 2:11–15 [Google Scholar]
  22. Means AR. 1997. Editorial: origin of the special issue.. Mol. Endocrinol. 11:651–53 [Google Scholar]
  23. O'Malley BW, Spelsberg TC, Schrader WT, Chytil F, Steggles AW. 1972. Mechanism of interaction of hormone-receptor complex with the genome of eucaryotic target cell.. Nature 235:141–44 [Google Scholar]
  24. Omori M, Chytil F. 1982. Mechanism of vitamin A action: gene expression in retinol deficient rats.. J. Biol. Chem. 257:14370–74 [Google Scholar]
  25. Ong DE, Chytil F. 1975. Retinoic acid binding protein in rat tissue.. Partial purification and comparison to rat tissue retinol binding protein J. Biol. Chem. 250:6113–17 [Google Scholar]
  26. Ong DE, Chytil F. 1976. Changes in levels of cellular retinol and retinoic acid binding proteins of liver and lung during perinatal development of rat.. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 73:3976–78 [Google Scholar]
  27. Ong DE, Newcomer ME, Chytil F. 1994. Cellular retinoid binding proteins. In The Retinoids, ed. MB Sporn, AB Roberts, DS Goodman 283–317 New York: Raven
  28. Petkovich M, Brand NJ, Krust A, Chambon P. 1987. Human retinoic acid receptor belongs to the family of nuclear receptors.. Nature 330:440–50 [Google Scholar]
  29. Pfahl M, Chytil F. 1996. Regulation of retinoic acid metabolism and its nuclear receptors.. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 16:257–83 [Google Scholar]
  30. Shenai JP, Chytil F, Jhaveri A, Stahlman MT. 1984. Plasma vitamin A status and retinol binding protein in premature and term neonates.. J. Pediatr. 99:302–5 [Google Scholar]
  31. Shenai JP, Kennedy KA, Chytil F, Stahlman MT. 1987. A clinical trial of vitamin A supplementation in infants susceptible to bronchopulmonary dysplasia.. J. Pediatr. 111:269–77 [Google Scholar]
  32. Sherman DR, Lloyd RS, Chytil F. 1987. Rat cellular retinol-binding protein gene:cDNA sequence and rapid retinol-dependent accumulation of mRNA.. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:3209–13 [Google Scholar]
  33. Tyson JH, Wright LL, Oh W, Kennedy KA, Mele L. et al. 1999. Vitamin A supplementation for extremely low-birth-weight infants.. National Institute of Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network New Engl. J. Med. 340:1962–68 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.nutr.23.011702.073155
Loading
  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error