Zur Person

Peter Walter made many path-breaking contributions to cell biology. While studying with Dr. Günter Blobel at The Rockefeller University, he discovered and purified the signal recognition particle and characterized its function. At the University of California, San Francisco, Walter’s laboratory discovered an unprecedented mechanism for cellular homeostasis called the unfolded protein response (UPR), which involves regulated mRNA splicing mediated by a transmembrane protein kinase. Walter elucidated a plethora of unexpected, yet universally conserved mechanisms in the pathway. Current research centers on fundamental questions in cell biology for which the Walter lab seeks a molecular understanding: how eukaryotic cells regulate the abundance of their organelles according to need; the mechanisms by which proteins become properly localized within a cell; and the molecular components and mechanisms that dynamically organize the plasma membrane, both during endocytosis and during cell-cell fusion.