Erlich, Paul

Erlich, P. In Collected Papers of Paul Erlich, Himmelweit, F (Ed.). Pergamon, London, 1957. 

Himmelweit F. 1960. The Collected Papers of Paul Erlich, Vol. 3,59, Pergmon, London. 

The recognition by Paul Ehrlich in 1906 that molecules do not act if they do not bind, Corpora non aguntnisi 6xata in this way Erlich introduced the concept of a biological receptor. 

Evidence for an interface between the circulation and the centL al nervous system (CNS) dates back to the end of the nineteenth century (Bradbury, 1979). The best known of those early studies were done by a young Paul Erlich who found that some dyes did not stain the brain after their peripheral injection. Erlich concluded erroneously that the lack of staining was because these dyes did not bind to brain tissue. Several decades later, Goldmann, a student of Erlich s, found that these dyes could stain the brain when injected intravenously. Thus, these dye studies were reinteipreted as evidence in favor of some sort of barrier between the CNS and blood. 

The use of metals in medicine is as old as recorded human history (I). Modem successes span from what was arguably the first medicinal chemistry screening campaign by Paul Erlich to the recent development of sophisticated bioimaging agents. The therapeutic applications of metal-based drugs span virtually every disease area anticancer (Al, Ga, In, Ti, Ru, Pt, Au, Sn) antimicrobial (As, Cu, Zn, Ag, Hg, Bi) antiarthritic (Au) antipsychotic (Li) antihypertensive (Fe, Zn) antiviral (Li, Pt, Au, W, Cu) antiulcer (Bi) antacids (Al, Na, Mg, Ca) metalloenzyme mimetics (Mn, Cu, Fe) radiotherapy (e.g. Re,... 

Figure 1. Arsphenamine (trade name Salvarsan), the result of the first modern medicinal chemistry program, discovered by Paul Erlich in 1909for the treatment of syphilis.

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