Otto-Warburg-Medal Awarded to Peter Walter

Dr Peter Walter, a German-born researcher who has lived in the US since the 1970s, has been granted the  Otto-Warburg-Medal of the German Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM) for his research on the  exploration of the mechanisms of protein folding, the transport of proteins to their target destinations within the cell, the regulation of size and number of cell organelles and the fusion of cell membranes. Qiagen, a leading provider of sample and assay technologies sponsored the endowment of EUR 25,000. Walter received the grant at a ceremony in Frankfurt/ Main, Germany, in September. To be able to follow their function within the cell, proteins must be folded  correctly and located in the right place. Walter explored the molecular mechanisms of these processes and made  numerous outstanding discoveries. During his graduate studies at Rockefeller University in New York City, he discovered the Signal Recognition Particle (SRP), a ribonucleo-protein complex that is involved in the protein transport of eukaryotes to the endoplasmic reticulum and of prokaryotes to the plasma membrane.

Since the 1990s, Walter’s research fundamentally contributed to the discovery and the exploration of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), a cellular reaction to stress which functions in the restoration of normal cell function, or  targeted apoptosis in die-back of cells. He is also recognised as part of the team that discovered the serin-threonin- kinase and the endoribonuclease Ire 1 that plays a crucial role in terms of the UPR.

“Peter Walter made numerous  outstanding and groundbreaking research contributions in the field of cell biology,” said Dr Irmgard Sinning, President of the GBM. “His work on the signal ways of protein folding, the protein folding itself as well as the regulation of the  number of organelles and the dynamic of the membrane organisation is of constitutional significance. A deficient regulation of these important processes is the cause of multiple diseases. Peter Walter’s concepts formed the field of  modern cell biology and are part of today’s textbooks and education.”