John Vane, 77; Pharmacologist Shared 1982 Nobel in Medicine for Research on Prostaglandins

John Vane, the British pharmacologist who in 1982 shared a Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that affect a wide range of body mechanisms, has died. He was 77.

Vane, who shared the prize with Swedish scientists Sune Bergstroem and Bengt I. Samuelsson, died Friday in Farnborough, England, of complications from injuries he sustained in a fall earlier this year, the University of London said in an announcement.

Prostaglandins are natural compounds derived from fatty acids that control many bodily functions. Different prostaglandins regulate blood pressure; coagulation; inflammation, pain and fever; and uterine contractions.

While scientists have known prostaglandins were in the human body since the 1930s, little was known about how they were produced or how they functioned. In experiments during the 1960s, Vane was able to chart the precise chemical composition of certain prostaglandins. He discovered a prostaglandin called prostacyclin that relaxes blood vessels. The discovery led to new treatments for heart and vessel disease, including ACE inhibitors, which are widely used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and other vascular diseases.

Vane also showed that aspirin inhibits the production of prostaglandins by blocking an enzyme known as cyclo-oxygenase, or COX-2. The prostaglandins that are blocked include those that make it easier for nerve cells to pass pain signals from one to another, those that raise fever and those that promote swelling of inflamed tissue.

John Robert Vane was born in Tardebigg, Worcestershire, England, on March 29, 1927. He developed an interest in science as the result of a chemistry set that he received as a Christmas gift at the age of 12. His father eventually built a shed for him in the family’s backyard, where Vane conducted his experiments.

He studied at the University of Birmingham, but found the curriculum less than the challenge he had anticipated. One of his professors suggested he try the pharmacology program at Oxford University, which he found to his liking. He earned separate bachelor of science degrees in chemistry and pharmacology at Oxford and a PhD there in 1953.

Vane taught briefly in the United States at Yale University before returning to England and accepting a position at the Royal College of Surgeons at its Institute of Basic Medical Sciences. He spent 18 years there and attained the rank of professor of experimental pharmacology before joining the Wellcome Foundation, a pharmaceutical company, where he was director of research and development. He was working at Wellcome when he shared the Nobel Prize.

In 1986, Vane founded and served as the first chairman of the William Harvey Research Institute, which specializes in cardiovascular and inflammation research. In 1996, the institute became part of the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, affiliated with Queen Mary’s College of the University of London.

A fellow of the Royal Society, Britain’s leading academic society, Vane was knighted in 1984.

He is survived by his wife and two daughters.