Research

Research Priorities: biophysics, sodium-potassium pump, sodium-potassium ATPase (Na+/K+-ATPase), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), enzyme mechanisms

Jens Christian Skou was a Danish biophysicist. In 1997, he received the shared Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the “sodium-potassium pump”, together with John Ernest Walker and Paul Delos Boye. All three scientists worked on the molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the most important energy carrier within cells.

Jens Christina Skou's primary research was on the breakdown of ATP. He discovered the transport enzyme sodium-potassium-ATPase (Na+/K+-ATPase), which transports substances through the cell membrane and uses up ATP in the process. There is a concentration gradient between the cell interior and the exterior, which is necessary for many processes in the cell. However, sodium ions are constantly diffusing into the cell interior, which would lead to a voltage balance between the cell interior and the exterior in the long run. However, if the voltage between the inside and the outside were the same, the transmission of an electrical stimulus would be impossible. The sodium-potassium pump maintains the concentration gradient between the inside and the outside. The enzyme (Na+/K+-ATPase) enables the transport of three positively charged sodium ions out of the cell and two positively charged potassium ions into the cell, thus ensuring the differential distribution. ATP is broken down into adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and phosphate in this process.

Jens Christian Skou isolated the enzyme from the nerve cell membranes of crustaceans. With his research, he clarified the basics of this enzyme mechanism. The mechanism is important for maintaining cell volume and plays a role in controlling the heartbeat. Defects of the sodium-potassium pump could be a possible cause of epilepsy.

Career

• 1978-1988 Professor, Department of Biophysics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
• 1963-1978 Professor, Department of Physiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
• 1954-1963 Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
• 1954 Physician, Orthopaedic Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
• 1947-1954 Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
• 1944-1947 Clinical training, Hjørring Hospital, Orthopaedic Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
• 1944 MD, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1937 Student, Haslev, Denmark

Honours and Memberships

• 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (shared with John Ernest Walker and Paul Delos Boye), Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Sweden
• 1985 Honorary Doctorate, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1985 Nordic Prize, Eric K. Fernström Foundation, Lund, Sweden
• 1977 Anders Retzius Medal, Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG), Sweden
• since 1977 Member, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
• 1973 General Consul Ernst Carlsens Foundations Prize, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1954 LEO Award, LEO Pharma Research Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1965 Novo Nordisk Prize, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Hellerup, Denmark
• Member, Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (KDVS), Denmark
• Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Heidelberg, Germany
• Foreign Member, National Academy of Sciences (NAS), USA
• Honorary Member, Japanese Biochemical Society (JBS), Japan
• Honorary Member, American Physiological Society, USA
• Member, Academia Europaea