UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Photo of Peter Walter, PhD  Peter Walter, PhD

Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry/Biophysics, UCSF; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Member, UCSF Chemistry and Chemical Biology Graduate Program
Member, UCSF Graduate Group in Biophysics
Member, UCSF Herbert W. Boyer Program in Biological Sciences (PIBS)

Contact

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
(415) 476-5017 (voice)
(415) 476-5233 (fax)

Box 2200, UCSF; San Francisco, CA 94143-2200

Additional websites:
    Walter Lab Website

Education

Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany, Vordiplom, 1976, Chemistry
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, M.Sc., 1977, Organic Chemistry
The Rockefeller University, New York, Ph.D., 1981, Cell Biology

Professional Experience

  • 1976-1977
    Direct Exchange Fellow, Vanderbilt University, in the laboratory of Dr. T.M. Harris
  • 1977-1981
    Graduate Fellow, The Rockefeller University, in the laboratory of Dr. G. Blobel
  • 1981-1982
    Postdoctoral Fellow, The Rockefeller University, in the laboratory of Dr. G. Blobel
  • 1982-1983
    Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Cell Biology, The Rockefeller University
  • 1983-1986
    Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
  • 1986-1991
    Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, UCSF
  • 1991-present
    Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, UCSF
  • 1997-present
    Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • 2001-present
    Chair, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics Department, UCSF

Honors & Awards

  • 1983
    Searle Scholar Award
  • 1988
    Eli Lilly Award for Fundamental Research in Biological Chemistry
  • 1988
    Passano Award
  • 1989
    Alfred P. Sloan Award
  • 1993
    NIH MERIT Award
  • 1996
    Harvey Lecturer, Rockefeller University, New York
  • 1998
    American Academy of Microbiology (elected Fellow)
  • 1998
    Feodor-Lynen-Lecture, Mosbach Kolloquium, Germany
  • 2001
    American Academy of Arts & Sciences (elected Fellow)
  • 2004
    National Academy of Sciences (elected Member)
  • 2004
    European Molecular Biology Organization (elected Associate Member)
  • 2004
    Virchow Lecture, Universität Würzburg
  • 2005
    Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences (with Dr. Kazutoshi Mori)
  • 2005
    George E. Palade Distinguished Lecture, Wayne State University School of Medicine
  • 2006
    47th Stadtler Lecture, University of Texas
  • 2006
    Leopoldina Academy of Scientists (elected member)

Selected Publications

  • Cox, J.S. & Walter, P. (1996) A novel mechanism for regulating activity of a transcription factor that controls the unfolded protein response. Cell 87: 391-404.
  • Sidrauski, C., Cox, J.S. & Walter, P. (1996) tRNA ligase is required for regulated mRNA splicing in the unfolded protein response. Cell 87: 405-413.
  • Freymann, D.M., Keenan, R.J., Stroud, R.M.,& Walter, P. (1997) Structure of the conserved GTPase domain of the signal recognition particle. Nature 385: 361-364.
  • Cox, J., Chapman, R., & Walter, P. (1997) The unfolded protein response coordinates the production of ER protein and ER membrane. Molecular Biology of the Cell 8:1805-1814.
  • Keenan, R., Freymann, D., Walter, P. & Stroud, R. (1998) Crystal structure of the signal sequence binding subunit of the signal recognition particle. Cell 94: 181-191.
  • Freymann, D.M., Keenan, R.J., Stroud, R.M., & Walter, P. (1999) Functional changes in the structure of the SRP GTPase on binding GDP and Mg2+GDP. Nature Structural Biology 6: 793-801.
  • Gonzalez, T., Sidrauski, C., Dörfler, S., & Walter, P. (1999) Mechanism of non-spliceosomal mRNA splicing in the unfolded protein response pathway. EMBO J. 18: 3119-3132.
  • Niwa, M., Sidrauski, C., & Walter, P. (1999) A Role for presenilin-1 in nuclear accumulation of Ire1 fragments and induction of the mammalian unfolded protein response. Cell 99: 691-702.
  • Travers, K.J., Patil, C.K., Wodicka, L., Lockhart, D.J., Weissman, J., & Walter, P. (2000) Functional and genomic analyses reveal essential coordination between the UPR and ER-associated degradation. Cell 101: 249-258.
  • Peluso, P., Herschlag, D., Nock, S., Freymann, D., Johnson, A.E., & Walter, P. (2000) Role of 4.5 S RNA in assembly of the bacterial signal recognition particle with its receptor. Science 288: 1640-1643.
  • Heiman, M.G. & Walter, P. (2000) Prm1p, a pheromone-regulated multispanning membrane protein, facilitates plasma membrane fusion during yeast mating. J. Cell Biology 151: 719-730.
  • Rüegsegger, U., Leber, J.H., & Walter, P. (2001) Block of HAC1 mRNA translation by long-range base pairing is released by cytoplasmic splicing upon induction of the unfolded protein response. Cell 107: 103-114.
  • Peluso, P., Shan, S., Nick, S., Herschlag, D., & Walter, P. (2001) Role of SRP RNA in the GTPase cycles of Ffh and FtsY. Biochemistry 40: 15224-15233.
  • Helenius, J., Ng, D.T.W., Marolda, C.L., Walter, P., Valvano, M.A., & Aebl, M. (2002) Translocation of lipid-linked oligosaccharides across the ER membrane requires Rft1 protein. Nature 415: 447-450.
  • Shan, S. & Walter, P. (2003) Induced nucleotide specificity in a GTPase. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100: 4480-85.
  • Papa, F., Zhang, C. Shokat, K. & Walter, P. (2003) Bypassing a kinase activity with an ATP-competitive drug. Science 302: 1533-1537.
  • Egea, P., Shan, S., Napetschnig, J., Savage, D., Walter, P., & Stroud, R. (2004) Substrate twinning activates the signal recognition particle and its receptor. Nature 427: 215-221.
  • Leber, J., Bernales, S., & Walter, P. (2004) IRE1-independent gain control of UPR, PLoS Biol 2 (8): e235.
  • Patil, C., Li, H., & Walter, P. (2004) A role for Gcn4p and novel upstream activating sequences in the unfolded protein response, Public Library of Science, Biology 2 (8): e246.
  • Shan, S., Stroud, R., & Walter, P. (2004) Mechanism of association and reciprocal activation of two GTPases. Public Library of Science, Biology 2 (11): e320.
  • Chu, F., Shan, S. Moustakas, D., Alber, F., Egea, P., Stroud, R., Walter, P. & Burlingame, A. (2004) Unraveling the interface of SRP and its receptor using chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry. Proc Natl Acad Sciences 101: 16454-16459.
  • Niwa, M., Patil, C., DeRisi, J., & Walter, P. (2004) Genome-scale approaches for discovering novel non-conventional splicing substrates of the Ire1 nuclease. Genome Biol. 6 (1): R3.1-10.
  • Shan, S. & Walter, P. (2005) Molecular crosstalk between the nucleotide specificity determinant of the SRP GTPase and the SRP receptor. Bichemistry 44: 6214-6222.
  • Credle, J., Finer-Moore, J., Papa, F., Stroud, R., & Walter, P. (2005) On the mechanism of sensing unfolded protein in the Endoplasmic Reticulum. Proc Natl Acad Sciences 102: 18773-84.
  • Walther, T., Brickner, J. Aguilar, P., Bernales, S., Pantoja, C., & Walter, P. (2006) Eisosomes define static sites of endocytosis. Nature 439 (23): 998-1003.
  • Bernales, S., McDonald KL, & Walter, P. Autophagy counterbalances endoplasmic reticulum expansion during the unfolded protein response. PLoS Biology 4 (12): e423.

Updated: January 20, 2012