© 1999 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 1999, European Society of Cardiology
In Memoriam
This special issue of Cardiovascular Research is dedicated to Edouard Coraboeuf who died on September 27, 1998 at the age of 72. His career (1948–1998) coincided with the first 50 years in the development of cardiac electrophysiology, which he pioneered together with his friend Sylvio Weidmann. When he was only 23, Edouard Coraboeuf began his work at the Physiology Laboratory in Cambridge where he collaborated with Sylvio Weidmann in the groupe of A.L. Hodgkin and A.F. Huxley to perform the first recording of a cardiac action potential. Edouard was rather amused by these experiments, particularly since the temperature of the Krebs solution, prewarmed in a teakettle, was quite unstable, as were the action potential recordings themselves. This major breakthrough was reported in two articles published in French [1,2] at a time when English was not yet the undisputed scientific language.
After this pioneer work, many major discoveries marked the career of Edouard Coraboeuf. In 1953, he described the cellular electrophysiological anomalies known as early afterdepolarizations [3], which are associated with torsade-de-pointes arrhythmias. In 1956, he obtained his professorship at the age of 30 in Poitiers where he founded the Laboratory of Animal Physiology (still active as a CNRS unit). In 1962, he moved to Orsay and founded the Laboratory of Comparative Physiology. In 1969, he and Alex Fabiato pioneered the cellular electrophysiology of the human heart [4]. In 1979, he discovered the slow inactivating component of the cardiac sodium current [5], which is now known to be involved in the genesis of congenital long QT syndrome. In 1982, he and Edward Carmeliet reported the two components of the cardiac transient outward current [6]. In all, Edouard Coraboeuf authored more than 300 articles during the last 50 years.
Edouard was a researcher, but also a tremendous teacher. Like many other fellows of the younger generation, I had the privilege of entering the field of cardiac electrophysiology as a result of his teaching. Those who have followed the same route remember the antique epidiascope that he used at incredible speed to show the key figures of the major articles relating to the history of cardiac electrophysiology. They also remember his remarkable artistic capacities for drawing action potentials and ionic currents. In addition to being a researcher and a teacher, Edouard also was a marvelous colleague. In spite of a heavy administrative workload, he never really left the bench. When the results were good, he showed his excitement and danced down the corridor like a child. He always seemed to be the youngest person in the lab. So long, Edouard.
Denis Escande
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- Coraboeuf E., Weidmann S. Potentiels de repos et potentiels d’action du muscle cardiaque, mesurés à l’aide d’électrodes intracellulaires. C.R. Soc. Biol. (1949) 143:1329.
- Coraboeuf E., Weidmann S. Potentiels d’action du muscle obtenus à l’aide de microélectrodes intracellulaires. Présence d’une inversion de potentiel. C.R. Soc. Biol. (1949) 143:1360.
- Coraboeuf E., Boistel J. L’action des taux élevés de gaz carbonique sur le tissu cardiaque, étudiée à l’aide de microélectrodes intracellulaires. C.R. Soc. Biol. (1953) 147:654.
- Fabiato A., Coraboeuf E., Fabiato F. Action de certains ions et d’inhibiteurs des perméabilités membranaires sur le potentiel d’action auriculaire humain. J. de Physiol. (1969) 61:443–446.
- Coraboeuf E., Deroubaix E., Coulombe A. Effect of tetrodotoxin on action potentials of the conducting system in the dog heart. Am. J. Physiol. (1979) 236:H561–H567.[Web of Science][Medline]
- Coraboeuf E., Carmeliet E. Existence of two transient outward currents in sheep cardiac Purkinje fibers. Pflügers Archiv. (1982) 392:352–359.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
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