Albert Hewett Coons (June 28, 1912 – September 30, 1978) was an American physician, pathologist, and immunologist. He was the first person to conceptualize and develop immunofluorescent techniques for labeling antibody in the early 1940s.
Early years
Coons was born in Gloversville, New York, on June 28, 1912, the son of Albert Selmser and Marion (née Hewett) Coons. His father was the president of a glove-manufacturing company, and his grandfather, Eugene Coons, was a physician. He was educated in Gloversville public schools, graduated with a B.S. from
Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts) in 1933, and received his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1937.
[McDevitt, H. O. Albert Hewett Coons, Biographical memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences.] Thereafter, Albert pursued residency training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During the final years of his house-officership, Coons joined the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory and was given a fellowship position in
bacteriology and
immunology.
[Karnovsky MJ: Obituary-- Dedication to Albert H. Coons, 1912-1978. J Histochem Cytochem 1979; 22: 1117-1118.] In that capacity, he came under the professional influence of
Hans Zinsser, a pioneering and dynamic immunologist and microbiologist.
Coons took a vacation trip to Berlin, Nazi Germany, in 1939, where he had a scientific epiphany. Having discussed with colleagues the immunological nature of the "Aschoff nodule" (an intracardiac, endomyocardial collection of myocytes and inflammatory cells) in rheumatic fever, Albert mulled over the nature of the antigens and antibodies that were involved in its formation. He later wrote: "In strange cities, visitors have many hours alone. It struck me that this theory of had never been tested and indeed could not be tested without the demonstration of antibody or antigen, preferably both, in the local lesions. I considered that it might be easier to find the antigen than the antibody... The notion of labeling an antibody molecule with a visible label was perfectly obvious in such a context."
Military service
In 1942, Coons's research was interrupted by a call to serve in the Medical Corps of the United States Army during World War II. He shipped out to the southwest
Pacific War with the 105th General U.S. Army Hospital, as its chief laboratory officer. The 105th saw action in
New Guinea, the
Solomon Islands, and the
Philippines. Coons was discharged from the Army at the end of 1945 with the rank of Major (O4).
He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
Career
Returning to Harvard Medical School, Coons continued his work on immunohistochemistry, in collaboration with Louis Fieser—an organic chemist—and his colleagues. Before the war, they had been successful in coupling anthracene isocyanate—a fluorophore—to antipneumococcus antibodies. The resulting product retained its immunological function, and was capable of agglutinating pneumococcal bacteria.
[Coons AH, Creech HJ, Jones RN: Immunological properties of an antibody containing a fluorescent group. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1941; 47: 200-202.] In addition, the organisms were brightly fluorescent and could be seen easily with a microscope that was fitted with an excitational ultraviolet light source. This basic laboratory paradigm was later applied to many antigens and antibodies,
[Coons AH, Kaplan MH: Localization of antigen in tissue cells; improvements in a method for the detection of antigen by means of fluorescent antibody. J Exp Med 1950; 91: 1-13.][Coons AH, Snyder JC: Localization of antigen in tissue cells; antigens of rickettsiae and mumps virus. J Exp Med 1950; 91: 31-38.][Coons AH: Fluorescent antibodies as histochemical tools. Fed Proc 1951; 10: 558-559.][Coons AH: Fluorescent antibody methods. Gen Cytochem Methods 1958; 1: 399-422.][Coons AH: The diagnostic application of fluorescent antibodies. Schweiz Z Pathol Bakteriol 1959; 22: 700-723.] launching the clinical disciplines of diagnostic immunofluorescence microscopy for bacteriology and immunology, immunocytology, and immunohistochemistry in anatomic pathology.
[Anonymous: A tell-tale glow. LIFE Magazine, Feb. 18, 1966; pp. 66-67.] These methods are widely used today, globally, in clinical medicine and
cell biology.
Many scientists spent time as fellows in Coons's Harvard laboratory. They, in turn, further developed the technique of immunohistology, as applied to electron microscopy and light microscopy. Coons progressed through the academic ranks at Harvard Medical School, and in 1953 was appointed Career Investigator for the American Heart Association. He completed additional work on in vitro and in vivo antibody production and the condition of immunological "tolerance".[Coons AH: Some reactions of lymphoid tissues to stimulation by antigens. Harvey Lect 1957-59; 53: 113-129.][Sercarz EE, Coons AH: The absence of antibody-producing cells during unresponsiveness to BSA in the mouse. J Immunol 1963; 90: 478-491.] In recognition of his achievements, Coons was given the prestigious Albert Lasker Award in Basic Research in 1959.[ Albert Lasker Basic Research Award, 1959: Albert Coons. (http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/1959_b_description.htm), Accessed 7-25-2010.] Coons was admitted as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1962. In 1970, he was given a named Harvard University Chair in the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, and later, in the Department of Pathology. He was president of the American Association of Immunologists (1960–1961) and a councillor and president of the Histochemistry Society, and was given several other awards and international honorary academic degrees.
Personal life
Coons died of coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure in September, 1978, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is buried in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Coons was survived by his wife, Phyllis (née Watts) 1917-2002, a writer for the
Boston Globe newspaper;
his son, Albert H., Jr. (1957–2003),
a Boston attorney; and four daughters: Elizabeth, a medical editor; Susan, an educator; Hilary, a clinical psychologist; and Wendy, a social worker.
[ National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir nasonline.org]
