Arthur Kornberg

Administrative Appointments

• Professor Emeritus (Active), Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine , (1988– present )
• Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine , (1959– 1988 )
• Chairman, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine , (1959– 1969 )
• Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri , (1953– 1959 )
• Chief of Enzyme and Metabolism Section, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland , (1947– 1953 )
• Medical Director, U.S. Public Health Service , (1942– 1953 )
• Intern, Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, NY , (1941– 1942 )

Honors and Awards

• Nobel Prize in Medicine (with Dr. Severo Ochoa), - (1959)
• President, American Society of Biological Chemists (1965)
• Foreign Member, Royal Society (1970)
• National Medal of Science, U.S. (1979)
• Gairdner Foundation Award, - (1995)
• Arthur Kornberg Medical Research Building, University of Rochester, NY (1999)
• Honorary Member, The Japan Society (2004)

Professional Education

• B.S., City College of New York Chemistry/Biology (1937)
• M.D., University of Rochester, NY Medicine (1941)

Research Interests

We aim to understand the biochemical and genetic basis for the numerous physiologic functions of inorganic polyphosphate, a polymer of hundreds of phosphate residues found in every cell in Nature.

Publications

• Inorganic polyphosphate in Bacillus cereus: motility, biofilm formation, and sporulation. Shi X,  Rao NN, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2004; 101 (49): 17061-5
• Inorganic polyphosphate in the origin and survival of species. Brown MR,  Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2004; 101 (46): 16085-7
• Formation of an actin-like filament concurrent with the enzymatic synthesis of inorganic polyphosphate. Gómez-García MR,  Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2004; 101 (45): 15876-80
• A polyphosphate kinase 1 (ppk1) mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits multiple ultrastructural and functional defects. Fraley CD,  Rashid MH, Lee SS, Gottschalk R, Harrison J, Wood PJ, Brown MR, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2007; 104 (9): 3526-31
• Inorganic polyphosphate essential for lytic growth of phages P1 and fd. Li L,  Rao NN, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2007; 104 (6): 1794-9
• Osamu Hayaishi: pioneer first of the oxygenases, then the molecular basis of sleep and throughout a great statesman of science. Kornberg A,  IUBMB Life.  2006 May-Jun; 58 (5-6): 253
• Endopolyphosphatase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes post-translational activations to produce short-chain polyphosphates. Shi X,  Kornberg A.  FEBS Lett.  2005; 579 (9): 2014-8
• Inorganic polyphosphate in Dictyostelium discoideum: influence on development, sporulation, and predation. Zhang H,  Gómez-García MR, Brown MR, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2005; 102 (8): 2731-5
• Inorganic polyphosphate in the social life of Myxococcus xanthus: motility, development, and predation. Zhang H,  Rao NN, Shiba T, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2005; 102 (38): 13416-20
• Biochemistry matters. Kornberg A,  Nat Struct Mol Biol.  2004; 11 (6): 493
• Inorganic polyphosphate stimulates mammalian TOR, a kinase involved in the proliferation of mammary cancer cells. Wang L,  Fraley CD, Faridi J, Kornberg A, Roth RA.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2003; 100 (20): 11249-54
• A polyphosphate kinase (PPK2) widely conserved in bacteria. Zhang H,  Ishige K, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2002; 99 (26): 16678-83
• Inorganic polyphosphate is essential for long-term survival and virulence factors in Shigella and Salmonella spp. Kim KS,  Rao NN, Fraley CD, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2002; 99 (11): 7675-80
• How I became a biochemist. Kornberg A,  IUBMB Life.  2002; 53 (3): 185-6
• Polyphosphate kinase (PPK2), a potent, polyphosphate-driven generator of GTP. Ishige K,  Zhang H, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2002; 99 (26): 16684-8
• Inorganic polyphosphate is essential for long–term survival and virulence factors in Shigella and Salmonella spp. Kim, K–S,  Rao, N.N., Fraley, C.D. and Kornberg, A..  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.  2002; 99 7675-7680
• The endopolyphosphatase gene: essential in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sethuraman A,  Rao NN, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2001; 98 (15): 8542-7
• Remembering our teachers. Kornberg A,  J Biol Chem.  2001; 276 (1): 3-11
• Public funding of understanding nature. Kornberg A,  IUBMB Life.  2001; 51 (2): 71-2
• Role of inorganic polyphosphate in promoting ribosomal protein degradation by the Lon protease in E. coli. Kuroda A,  Nomura K, Ohtomo R, Kato J, Ikeda T, Takiguchi N, Ohtake H, Kornberg A.  Science.  2001; 293 (5530): 705-8
• Remembering Our Teachers (Reflections: A paper in a series commissioned to celebrate the Centenary of the JBC in 2005). Kornberg, A.,  J. Biol. Chem..  2001; (276): 3-11
• Inorganic polyphosphate is required for motility of bacterial pathogens. Rashid MH,  Rao NN, Kornberg A.  J Bacteriol.  2000; 182 (1): 225-7
• The multiple activities of polyphosphate kinase of Escherichia coli and their subunit structure determined by radiation target analysis. Tzeng CM,  Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  2000; 275 (6): 3977-83
• Inorganic polyphosphate is needed for swimming, swarming, and twitching motilities of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Rashid MH,  Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2000; 97 (9): 4885-90
• Polyphosphate kinase is essential for biofilm development, quorum sensing, and virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Rashid MH,  Rumbaugh K, Passador L, Davies DG, Hamood AN, Iglewski BH, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  2000; 97 (17): 9636-41
• Ten commandments: lessons from the enzymology of DNA replication. Kornberg A,  J Bacteriol.  2000; 182 (13): 3613-8
• Inorganic polyphosphate in Vibrio cholerae: genetic, biochemical, and physiologic features. Ogawa N,  Tzeng CM, Fraley CD, Kornberg A.  J Bacteriol.  2000; 182 (23): 6687-93
• Definitive enzymatic assays in polyphosphate analysis. Ault-Riché D,  Kornberg A.  Prog Mol Subcell Biol.  1999; 23 241-52
• Inorganic polyphosphate regulates responses of Escherichia coli to nutritional stringencies, environmental stresses and survival in the stationary phase. Rao NN,  Kornberg A.  Prog Mol Subcell Biol.  1999; 23 183-95
• Inorganic polyphosphate: a molecule of many functions. Kornberg A,  Rao NN, Ault-Riché D.  Annu Rev Biochem.  1999; 68 89-125
• Novel assay reveals multiple pathways regulating stress-induced accumulations of inorganic polyphosphate in Escherichia coli. Ault-Riché D,  Fraley CD, Tzeng CM, Kornberg A.  J Bacteriol.  1998; 180 (7): 1841-7
• Alginate, inorganic polyphosphate, GTP and ppGpp synthesis co-regulated in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: implications for stationary phase survival and synthesis of RNA/DNA precursors. Kim HY,  Schlictman D, Shankar S, Xie Z, Chakrabarty AM, Kornberg A.  Mol Microbiol.  1998; 27 (4): 717-25
• Inorganic polyphosphate in Escherichia coli: the phosphate regulon and the stringent response. Rao NN,  Liu S, Kornberg A.  J Bacteriol.  1998; 180 (8): 2186-93
• Centenary of the birth of modern biochemistry. Kornberg A,  FASEB J.  1997; 11 (14): 1209-14
• Guanosine tetra- and pentaphosphate promote accumulation of inorganic polyphosphate in Escherichia coli. Kuroda A,  Murphy H, Cashel M, Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1997; 272 (34): 21240-3
• Centenary of the birth of modern biochemistry. Kornberg A,  Trends Biochem Sci.  1997; 22 (8): 282-3
• Polyphosphate kinase as a nucleoside diphosphate kinase in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Kuroda A,  Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  1997; 94 (2): 439-42
• Science and medicine at the millennium. Kornberg A,  Biochem Mol Med.  1997; 61 (2): 121-6
• Science and medicine at the millennium. Kornberg A,  Braz J Med Biol Res.  1997; 30 (12): 1379-86
• Chemistry - the lingua franca of the medical and biological sciences. Kornberg A,  Chem Biol.  1996; 3 (1): 3-5
• Inorganic polyphosphate supports resistance and survival of stationary-phase Escherichia coli. Rao NN,  Kornberg A.  J Bacteriol.  1996; 178 (5): 1394-400
• Phosphohistidyl active sites in polyphosphate kinase of Escherichia coli. Kumble KD,  Ahn K, Kornberg A.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  1996; 93 (25): 14391-5
• Endopolyphosphatases for long chain inorganic polyphosphate in yeast and mammals. Kumble KD,  Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1996; 271 (43): 27146-51
• Inorganic polyphosphate: toward making a forgotten polymer unforgettable. Kornberg A,  J Bacteriol.  1995; 177 (3): 491-6
• Inorganic polyphosphates in the acquisition of competence in Escherichia coli. Castuma CE,  Huang R, Kornberg A, Reusch RN.  J Biol Chem.  1995; 270 (22): 12980-3
• Inorganic polyphosphate in mammalian cells and tissues. Kumble KD,  Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1995; 270 (11): 5818-22
• The gene for a major exopolyphosphatase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Wurst H,  Shiba T, Kornberg A.  J Bacteriol.  1995; 177 (4): 898-906
• Fifty years ago: the state of biochemistry. Kornberg A,  FASEB J.  1995; 9 (14): 1497-8
• A soluble exopolyphosphatase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Purification and characterization. Wurst H,  Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1994; 269 (15): 10996-1001
• Genetically altered levels of inorganic polyphosphate in Escherichia coli. Crooke E,  Akiyama M, Rao NN, Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1994; 269 (9): 6290-5
• Hyperactive initiation of chromosomal replication in vivo and in vitro by a mutant initiator protein, DnaAcos, of Escherichia coli. Katayama T,  Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1994; 269 (17): 12698-703
• Fluid membranes with acidic domains activate DnaA, the initiator protein of replication in Escherichia coli. Castuma CE,  Crooke E, Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1993; 268 (33): 24665-8
• Assembly of the primosome of DNA replication in Escherichia coli. Allen GC,  Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1993; 268 (26): 19204-9
• Replicatively active complexes of DnaA protein and the Escherichia coli chromosomal origin observed in the electron microscope. Crooke E,  Thresher R, Hwang DS, Griffith J, Kornberg A.  J Mol Biol.  1993; 233 (1): 16-24
• A novel binding protein of the origin of the Escherichia coli chromosome. Skarstad K,  Thöny B, Hwang DS, Kornberg A.  J Biol Chem.  1993; 268 (8): 5365-70
• Strand switching of a replicative DNA helicase promoted by the E. coli primosome. Allen GC,  Dixon NE, Kornberg A.  Cell.  1993; 74 (4): 713-22