Profiles of Leading Women Scientists on AcademiaNet.
Search among the members of the Leopoldina for experts in specific fields or research topics.
Year of election: | 2001 |
Section: | Biochemistry and Biophysics |
City: | Dortmund |
Country: | Germany |
Fred Wittinghofer has worked all his scientific life on the elucidation of structure-function relationships of GTP-binding proteins. He has shown how they function as molecular switches and how they perform their biological role by interacting with regulators and effectors. One of the more memorable contributions is the work on the oncoprotein Ras where he showed how the protein looks in 3D and how it interacts with downstream components and its GTPase Activating Protein (GAP) and why oncogenic mutants have a blockade in this switch-OFF reaction. Many more proteins of this class like Ran, Rap, Rho, Arl and Septins were investigated and their structure, function and biochemistry elucidated.