Andrei Vinogradov (1942-2021)
Through elegant experiments in isolated enzymes, intact mitochondria, and bacteria, Andrei Vinogradov demonstrated how enzymes of the electron transport chain are finely tuned and regulated. His fundamental insights have paved the way for innovative functional and structural advances in the field.
Vinogradov, who was born in Samarkand (former USSR) in 1942, died on 16 March 2021 in Moscow, Russia, aged 78. He graduated from the School of Biology at Moscow State University in 1964 and continued his postgraduate studies in the field of mitochondrial energy metabolism in Moscow. Fascinated by emerging discoveries in the area of bioenergetics, Andrei did his postdoctoral research in the Britton Chance lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon returning to Russia, he set up a lab in the Biochemistry Department of Moscow University. Through many years, this lab carried out a systematic analysis of enzymatic properties of mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase, ATP-synthase, and Complex I. Andrei was fond of considering that forward and reverse reactions of these respiratory chain enzymes are provided by distinct mechanisms that are differently regulated. He was the first to describe Active/Deactive transition of mitochondrial Complex I and to emphasize its importance in physiology. While being a fine violinist, he was also a dazzling presenter whose Biochemistry lectures at Moscow State University were the most memorable events for many generations of students.
Andrei will be greatly missed by family, friends, colleagues, and the many scientists who appreciated him as a brilliant facilitator of science. The world will be much smaller without him.
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