Geoffrey Burnstock was a biomedical scientist who gained renown for his discovery that adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) functions as an extracellular signalling molecule. Born in London and educated at King’s and University Colleges, he did postdoctoral work at Mill Hill and Oxford. He moved in 1959 to the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne because he sensed there a greater freedom to challenge established thinking in physiology. His group found that transmission from sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nerves to smooth muscle was in some places not mediated by the accepted chemical messengers (noradrenaline and acetylcholine). He amassed evidence that ATP was this non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (NANC) transmitter, using biochemical, histological and electrophysiological approaches: heretically, he styled this ‘purinergic transmission’. Geoff further upset dogma in the 1970s by proposing ‘co-transmission’ in which some nerves released ATP in addition to either noradrenaline or acetylcholine. He distinguished pharmacologically P1 receptors (activated best by adenosine and blocked by xanthines) and P2 receptors (activated best by purine nucleotides such as ATP) and he proposed in 1985 that the latter embraced P2X (ion channel) and P2Y (G protein-coupled) subtypes: about ten years later these categories were substantiated by cDNA cloning. From 1975 until his retirement in 1997, Geoff was head of Anatomy and Embryology at University College London (UCL), which he developed energetically into a large and strong research department. Later, as head of the Autonomic Research Institute at the Royal Free (part of UCL), he continued to collaborate extensively, and founded several journals and international professional societies. He widely sought clinical benefit for his discoveries, and both P2X and P2Y receptors have been developed as the targets of useful therapeutics (gefapixant, clopidogrel). Geoff was proud of his modest, rather humble, background and eschewed formality. He may have smiled when his early discoveries were met with cynicism, even ridicule (‘pure-imagine’ transmission noted one amusing critic), but this just reinforced his resolve and encouraged his encyclopaedic oeuvre.

Geoffrey Burnstock 是一位生物医学科学家，他因发现腺苷 5'-三磷酸 (ATP) 作为细胞外信号分子而闻名。他出生于伦敦，在国王学院和大学学院接受教育，在米尔希尔和牛津从事博士后工作。他于 1959 年搬到墨尔本大学的动物学系，因为他感觉到那里有更大的自由来挑战生理学的既定思想。他的小组发现，从交感神经和副交感神经自主神经到平滑肌的传输在某些地方不是由公认的化学信使（去甲肾上腺素和乙酰胆碱）介导的。他收集了证据表明 ATP 是这种非肾上腺素能、非胆碱能 (NANC) 递质，使用生化、组织学和电生理学方法：异端，他将这种“嘌呤能传递”命名为。Geoff 在 1970 年代进一步颠覆了教条，他提出了“共同传递”，其中除了去甲肾上腺素或乙酰胆碱之外，一些神经还释放 ATP。他在药理学上区分了 P1 受体（腺苷激活最好，黄嘌呤阻断）和 P2 受体（嘌呤核苷酸如 ATP 激活最好），他在 1985 年提出后者包括 P2X（离子通道）和 P2Y（G 蛋白偶联）亚型：大约十年后，这些类别被 cDNA 克隆证实。从 1975 年到 1997 年退休，Geoff 在伦敦大学学院 (UCL) 担任解剖学和胚胎学系主任，并积极发展成为一个庞大而强大的研究部门。后来，作为Royal Free（UCL的一部分）自主研究所的负责人，他继续广泛合作，并创立了数个期刊和国际专业协会。他为他的发现广泛寻求临床益处，并且 P2X 和 P2Y 受体都已被开发为有用的治疗药物（吉法匹松、氯吡格雷）的靶标。杰夫为他谦虚、相当谦逊的背景和避免拘谨形式感到自豪。当他的早期发现遭到冷嘲热讽甚至嘲笑时，他可能会微笑（一位有趣的评论家指出，“纯粹想象”的传播），但这只是加强了他的决心并鼓励了他的百科全书式的作品。杰夫为他谦虚、相当谦逊的背景和避免拘谨形式感到自豪。当他的早期发现遭到冷嘲热讽甚至嘲笑时，他可能会微笑（一位有趣的评论家指出，“纯粹想象”的传播），但这只是加强了他的决心并鼓励了他的百科全书式的作品。杰夫为他谦虚、相当谦逊的背景和避免拘谨形式感到自豪。当他的早期发现遭到冷嘲热讽甚至嘲笑时，他可能会微笑（一位有趣的评论家指出，“纯粹想象”的传播），但这只是加强了他的决心并鼓励了他的百科全书式的作品。