Gunnar Dittmar

Professor, PhD, Dipl.-Ing.

    • rue Thomas Edison, 1

      1445 Luxembourg

      Luxembourg

    Accepting PhD Students

    • 13001
      Citations
    1997 …2025

    Research activity per year

    Personal profile

    Research interests

    Proteomics

    Regulation by post-translational modifications

    Ubiquitin

    Mass spectrometry

    Diagnostic biomarkers

    Research interests

    Regulated cellular growth and cellular responses to the environment rely on the well-orchestrated interplay of DNA, RNA, and proteins, and dysregulation of these interactions is linked to many diseases including cancer, neurodegeneration, or inflammatory and folding disorders. The layer which is currently still understudied is the interplay of post-translational modifications (PTMs) and protein-protein interactions. My laboratory studies this regulatory layer by developing and applying innovative approaches from proteomics and molecular biology. The research focus is divided into three sections:

    1. Regulation of the proteome by ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules,
    2. Regulation of protein-protein interactions by PTMs, and
    3. Development of diagnostic biomarkers and mass spectrometric methods.

    For probing the modulation of the protein-protein interaction network, my laboratory developed a new methodology to monitor the influence of PTMs, allowing the spatial separation of the interactions along a protein structure in a large-scale experiment for the first time. This technique, called PrISMa, uses a peptide matrix and detects interacting proteins by mass spectrometry. As a proof of principle, we applied the technology to monitor the PTM-regulated interactome of C/EBPß and showed how the dimethyl-arginine-controlled interaction of C/EBPß and TLE3 regulates adipogenesis.  Meanwhile, we used the technology to probe the interactomes of C/EBPa and the Claudin family.

    In the past years, we developed several new mass spectrometric methods for rapidly measuring selected proteins using targeted proteomics (prm-PASEF, g-dia-PASEF). The increased sensitivity of these methods allowed the targeted measurement of body fluids like serum and plasma and more than double the number of tracked proteins to 560. We used these techniques to develop a new biomarker for early diagnosis of endometrial cancer from uterine aspirate which can be easily collected from patients with low discomfort. The biomarker is patented and is currently being transformed into a diagnostic kit for use in clinics.

    Education/Academic qualification

    ADR, University of Luxembourg

    Award Date: 1 Jan 2017

    PhD, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg

    Award Date: 1 Jan 1997

    Master, Technische Universität Darmstadt

    Award Date: 1 Jan 1993

    External positions

    Affiliate Professor for proteomics, University of Luxembourg

    2019 → …

    Associate Professor , University of Luxembourg

    20172019

    Head of the proteomics core facility, Berlin Institute of Health

    20142016

    Visiting Professor, Technion

    2011 → …

    Group leader mass spectrometry core unit , Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association

    20072016

    Group Leader – post-translational signaling group., Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association

    20032016

    Instructor of Cell Biology, Member of the teaching faculty, Harvard Medical School, Boston - Department of Cell Biology

    19992003

    Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Boston - Department of Cell Biology

    19971999

    Postdoctoral Fellow, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg

    19961997

    PhD candidate, German Cancer Research Center

    19931996

    Keywords

    • QH301 Biology
    • proteomics
    • biochemistry
    • molecular biology
    • ubiquitin
    • protein degradation
    • biomarker
    • QH426 Genetics

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