Dr. Alexander Matthias Walter

AlexanderMatthiasWalter

Leibniz Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)
FMP im ChariteCrossOver (CCO)
Intern: Virchowweg 6, Raum 05 217
Chariteplatz 1
10117 Berlin
Phone: +49 (30) 450 639026
E-mail: awalter@fmp-berlin.de



Position and Status

Emmy Noether Junior Research Group Leader


Scholarships and awards

2017 - Japan Neuroscience Society, Award for excellent presentation, 40th annual meeting, Tokyo, Japan
2016 - present - Member of the Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Berlin, Germany
2015 - present - Emmy Noether research grant, German Science Foundation (DFG), Bonn, Germany
2010 - 2011 - EMBO Long-term Fellowship, European Molecular Biology Organization
2009 - Invitation to the 59th Meeting of Noble Laureates, Lindau, Germany
2008 - Excellence in Teaching Neuroscience, award for best teaching (tutorial), International Max Planck Research School, Göttingen, Germany
2007 - Symposium Award of the Society for General Physiologists
2005 - 2006 - DAAD Scholarship for graduate students, “Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst”, Bonn, Germany
2004 - 2005 - Scholarship Max Planck Research School, Göttingen, Germany



University training and degree

08/2004 - 07/2006 - Master of Science, International Max Planck Research School Neuroscience Göttingen, Germany & Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
                               - grade: A, top of the class
2003 - Vordiplom, Department of Chemistry, Georg August Universtity Göttingen – grade “Sehr gut” (excellent)
10/2001 - 07/2004 - Study of Chemistry, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany

 

Advanced academic qualifications

2009 - Dr. rer. nat., International Max Planck Research School & Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany – dissertation grade: summa cum laudae (Thesis advisors: Jakob Sørensen, Erwin Neher, Reinhard Jahn)

 

Postgraduate professional career

03/2015 - present - Emmy Noether group leader, Molecular and Theoretical Neuroscience, Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Berlin, Germany
08/2013 - 02/2015 - Post-doc with Volker Haucke, Neurocure Cluster of Excellence, Charité Berlin, Germany
08/2011 - 05/2013 - Post-doc with Jakob Sørensen, Department of Neurosciences and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
01/2010 - 07/2011 - Post-doc with Matthijs Verhage, Center of Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Most important publications

  1. Böhme, M. A., McCarthy, A. W., Grasskamp, A. T., Beuschel, C. B., Goel, P., Jusyte, M., Laber, D., Huang, S., Rey, U., Petzold, A., Lehmann, M., Göttfert, F., Haghighi, P., Hell, S. W., Owald, D., Dickman, D., Sigrist, S. J., and Walter, A.M.# (2019) Rapid active zone remodeling consolidates presynaptic potentiation. Nat. Commun. 10, 1085

  2. Walter, A. M.#, Muller, R., Tawfik, B., Wierda, K. D., Pinheiro, P. S., Nadler, A., McCarthy, A. W., Ziomkiewicz, I., Kruse, M., Reither, G., Rettig, J., Lehmann, M., Haucke, V., Hille, B., Schultz, C., and Sorensen, J. B. (2017) Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate optical uncaging potentiates exocytosis. Elife 6, e30203

  3. Reddy-Alla, S., Bohme, M. A., Reynolds, E., Beis, C., Grasskamp, A. T., Mampell, M. M., Maglione, M., Jusyte, M., Rey, U., Babikir, H., McCarthy, A. W., Quentin, C., Matkovic, T., Bergeron, D. D., Mushtaq, Z., Gottfert, F., Owald, D., Mielke, T., Hell, S. W., Sigrist, S. J., and Walter, A. M.# (2017) Stable Positioning of Unc13 Restricts Synaptic Vesicle Fusion to Defined Release Sites to Promote Synchronous Neurotransmission. Neuron 95, 1350-1364 e1312

  4. Bohme, M. A., Beis, C., Reddy-Alla, S., Reynolds, E., Mampell, M. M., Grasskamp, A. T., Lutzkendorf, J., Bergeron, D. D., Driller, J. H., Babikir, H., Gottfert, F., Robinson, I. M., O'Kane, C. J., Hell, S. W., Wahl, M. C., Stelzl, U., Loll, B., Walter, A. M. *#, and Sigrist, S. J.*# (2016) Active zone scaffolds differentially accumulate Unc13 isoforms to tune Ca(2+) channel-vesicle coupling. Nat Neurosci. 19, 1311-1320

  5. Schotten, S.*, Meijer, M.*, Walter, A. M.*, Huson, V., Mamer, L., Kalogreades, L., ter Veer, M., Ruiter, M., Brose, N., Rosenmund, C., Sorensen, J. B., Verhage, M., and Cornelisse, L. N. (2015) Additive effects on the energy barrier for synaptic vesicle fusion cause supralinear effects on the vesicle fusion rate. Elife 4, e05531

  6. Muhammad, K., Reddy-Alla, S., Driller, J. H., Schreiner, D., Rey, U., Bohme, M. A., Hollmann, C., Ramesh, N., Depner, H., Lutzkendorf, J., Matkovic, T., Gotz, T., Bergeron, D. D., Schmoranzer, J., Goettfert, F., Holt, M., Wahl, M. C., Hell, S. W., Scheiffele, P., Walter, A. M., Loll, B., and Sigrist, S. J. (2015) Presynaptic spinophilin tunes neurexin signalling to control active zone architecture and function. Nat Commun 6:8362

  7. Kononenko, N. L., Puchkov, D., Classen, G. A., Walter, A. M., Pechstein, A., Sawade, L., Kaempf, N., Trimbuch, T., Lorenz, D., Rosenmund, C., Maritzen, T., and Haucke, V. (2014) Clathrin/AP-2 mediate synaptic vesicle reformation from endosome-like vacuoles but are not essential for membrane retrieval at central synapses. Neuron 82:981-988

  8. Walter, A. M., Kurps, J., de Wit, H., Schoning, S., Toft-Bertelsen, T. L., Lauks, J., Ziomkiewicz, I., Weiss, A. N., Schulz, A., Fischer von Mollard, G., Verhage, M., and Sorensen, J. B. (2014) The SNARE protein vti1a functions in dense-core vesicle biogenesis. EMBO J. 33:1681-1697

  9. Walter, A. M.#, Pinheiro, P. S., Verhage, M., and Sorensen, J. B. (2013) A sequential vesicle pool model with a single release sensor and a Ca(2+)-dependent priming catalyst effectively explains Ca(2+)- dependent properties of neurosecretion. PLoS Comput. Biol. 9, e1003362

  10. Walter, A. M., Wiederhold, K., Bruns, D., Fasshauer, D., and Sorensen, J. B. (2010) Synaptobrevin N- terminally bound to syntaxin-SNAP-25 defines the primed vesicle state in regulated exocytosis. J. Cell Biol. 188:401-413

*: equal contribution, #: corresponding author