Carl and Gerty Cori: A collaboration that changed the face of biochemistry

Carl Cori and Gerty Cori elucidated basic biochemical mechanisms involved in the utilization of energy by muscle and liver, first at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and then at Washington University. In 1929, they formulated the Cori cycle, the process by which glycogen is converted to glucose in liver and is then reconverted to glycogen in muscle. They later found that glycogen breakdown yielded glucose-1-phosphate (Cori ester) and lactate, key intermediates in the cycle; they also established that lactic acid provided the energy employed in muscle contraction. They later discovered phosphorylase, the enzyme that catalyzed glycogen breakdown. After purifiying and crystallizing muscle phosphorylase, they identified two forms of the enzyme and defined their respective roles in metabolic regulation. These studies emboldened other scientists to advance our knowledge of fundamental regulatory processes such as the adenylate cyclase-cyclic AMP system and enzyme phosphorylation. The Coris also built a world-renowned Department of Biochemistry at Washington University, which included seven future Nobelists. In 1947, the Coris were awarded the Nobel Prize, with Gerty Cori being the first American woman to win this prestigious honor.