Achievements
Achievement of Prof. Brian Kobilka was the basis for the ground-breaking discovery of Robert Lefkowitz's team regarding the structure of GPCR receptors. Scientists have shown that these receptors have seven membrane-spanning domains, each of which plays a specific role in receptor activity.
In 1989-90, Kobilka set up his own laboratory at Stanford University, where he received a professorship in medicine and molecular and cellular physiology. He continued to study the relationship between the structure and function of GPCRs, using adrenergic receptors as model systems.
He became known for his use of innovative biophysical techniques, especially X-ray crystallography, where a beam of X-rays is projected onto a protein crystal, creating a diffraction pattern that can then be used to determine the atomic structure of a protein in three dimensions. Prof. Kobilka spent two decades developing a process for generating beta 2 -adrenergic receptor protein crystals that were large enough to be analysed in a synchrotron. The changing conformation of the receptor further complicated the crystallization process. However, in 2011, after enlisting the help of colleagues in the US and Europe, Prof. Brian Kobilka published the first high-resolution view of transmembrane signalling via the beta 2 receptor. This development was considered a milestone in biology and enabled the production of crystals of other GPCR receptors. Of particular importance was the possibility to explore pharmacologically relevant structures of GPCRs, paving the way for the development of drugs targeting specific receptors, thereby enhancing therapeutic benefits while minimizing side effects.
Prof. Kobilka founded the biotech company ConfometRx, which focuses on the development of GPCR-based drug discovery technologies, as well as the Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery at the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus. He organizes the GPCR Workshop dedicated to cooperation between science and industry, supporting the development of therapies for G protein-coupled receptors.
Prof. Kobilka is the recipient of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology in 1994. His work on the structure of the GPCR was awarded a second "Breakthrough of the Year" award in 2007 by the science magazine Science. In 2011 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in the USA. In 2017, he received the American Academy of Achievements Golden Plate Award.
Bibliometric indicators of Professor Brian Kobilka in April 2023 were as follows:
- number of publications in the journal Nature (main edition): 40
- number of publications in other journals from the Nature group: 30
- number of publications in the journal Science (main edition): 13
- number of publications in other journals from the Science group: 3
- total number of publications indexed in Scopus: 359 (including 12 errata and corrections)
- index H according to Scopus - 126 (without self-citations - 123)
