Hartmut Wekerle

{{Infobox person

| name = Hartmut Wekerle

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|05|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Germany

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| occupation = Medical Scientist, Neurobiologist

| alma mater = Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg

| spouse = Rosa-Laura Oropeza Wekerle

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Hartmut Wekerle (born 30 May 1944) is a German medical scientist and neurobiologist. He is an emeritus director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology and was the head of the department of Neuroimmunology until 2012.

Biography

Hartmut Wekerle was born in Waldshut in 1944. He studied medicine at the University of Freiburg. In 1967, he began scientific research at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg as a PhD student under Herbert Fischer. He finished his doctorate in 1971. After graduation, he worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science from 1971 to 1973 as a postdoctorate researcher. Later on, he led the Research Group for Multiple Sclerosis at the Institute of Clinical Neurobiology at the University Hospital of the University of Würzburg. In 1988, he was appointed director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology (now Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence{{cite web |title=New Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, in foundation |url=https://idw-online.de/en/news788973 |access-date=2022-04-20}}). After receiving the Emeritus status at the institute in 2012, he continued his research for another five years as a Senior Professorship funded by the Hertie Foundation.

Scientific focus

Hartmut Wekerle's work has been devoted to the study of cellular immune responses and mechanisms in the course of multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory diseases in the nervous system.

In particular, his research contributed to the following discoveries:

Detection of autoreactive T cell clones in the healthy immune system and their activation in autoimmune encephalomyelitis

{{Cite journal|last1=Wekerle|first1=H|last2=Cohen|first2=IR|last3=Feldman|first3=M|title=Thymus reticulum cell cultures confer T cell properties on spleen cells from thymus-deprived animals |journal=Eur J Immunol |volume=3 |issue=12 |pages=745–8 |date=December 1973 |pmid=4544457 |doi=10.1002/eji.1830031202 |s2cid=44482733|language=en}}

Immunocompetence of central nervous glial cells

{{cite journal |last1=Fontana |first1=A |last2=Fierz |first2=W |last3=Wekerle |first3=H |title=Astrocytes present myelin basic protein to encephalitogenic T-cell lines |journal=Nature |volume=307 |issue=5948 |pages=273–6 |date=1984 |pmid=6198590 |doi=10.1038/307273a0 |bibcode=1984Natur.307..273F |s2cid=2468077 |language=en}}

Regulatory CD8 T cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

{{cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=D |last2=Qin |first2=Y |last3=Chluba |first3=J |last4=Epplen |first4=JT |last5=Wekerle |first5=H |title=Suppression of experimentally induced autoimmune encephalomyelitis by cytolytic T-T cell interactions |journal=Nature |volume=332 |issue=6167 |pages=843–5 |date=April 1988 |pmid=2965794 |doi=10.1038/332843a0 |bibcode=1988Natur.332..843S |s2cid=4307955 |language=en}}

Regulation of CNS immune reactivity by active neurons

{{cite journal |last1=Neumann |first1=H |last2=Cavalié |first2=A |last3=Jenne |first3=DE |last4=Wekerle |first4=H |title=Induction of MHC class I genes in neurons |journal=Science |volume=269 |issue=5223 |pages=549–52 |date=July 1995 |pmid=7624779 |doi=10.1126/science.7624779 |bibcode=1995Sci...269..549N |language=en}}

Migration pathways of autoimmune T cells to the central nervous system

{{cite journal |last1=Bartholomäus |first1=I |last2=Kawakami |first2=N |last3=Odoardi |first3=F |last4=Schläger |first4=C |last5=Miljkovic |first5=D |last6=Ellwart |first6=JW |last7=Klinkert |first7=WE |last8=Flügel-Koch |first8=C |last9=Issekutz |first9=TB |last10=Wekerle |first10=H |last11=Flügel |first11=A |title=Effector T cell interactions with meningeal vascular structures in nascent autoimmune CNS lesions |journal=Nature |volume=462 |issue=7269 |pages=94–8 |date=November 2009 |pmid=19829296 |doi=10.1038/nature08478 |bibcode=2009Natur.462...94B |s2cid=4373646 |language=en}}

Activation of CNS autoimmune T cells by intestinal microbiota

{{cite journal |last1=Berer |first1=K |last2=Mues |first2=M |last3=Koutrolos |first3=M |last4=Rasbi |first4=ZA |last5=Boziki |first5=M |last6=Johner |first6=C |last7=Wekerle |first7=H |last8=Krishnamoorthy |first8=G |title=Commensal microbiota and myelin autoantigen cooperate to trigger autoimmune demyelination |journal=Nature |volume=479 |issue=7374 |pages=538–41 |date=October 2011 |pmid=22031325 |doi=10.1038/nature10554 |bibcode=2011Natur.479..538B |s2cid=12678288 |language=en}}

Activation of CNS autoimmune T cells by MS derived microbiota

{{cite journal |last1=Berer |first1=K |last2=Gerdes |first2=LA |last3=Cekanaviciute |first3=E |last4=Jia |first4=X |last5=Xiao |first5=L |last6=Xia |first6=Z |last7=Liu |first7=C |last8=Klotz |first8=L |last9=Stauffer |first9=U |last10=Baranzini |first10=SE |last11=Kümpfel |first11=T |last12=Hohlfeld |first12=R |last13=Krishnamoorthy |first13=G |last14=Wekerle |first14=H |title=Gut microbiota from multiple sclerosis patients enables spontaneous autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice |journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |volume=114 |issue=40 |pages=10719–10724 |date=October 2017 |pmid=28893994 |pmc=5635914 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1711233114 |bibcode=2017PNAS..11410719B |language=en|doi-access=free }}

Awards (Selection)

Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine (1982){{cite web

|title=Preisträger 1976 bis 2019

|publisher=Jung-Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Forschung

|url=https://jung-stiftung.de/die-preise/ernst-jung-preis-fuer-medizin/preistraeger-1976-bis-2019/

|access-date=2022-05-02

|archive-date=2022-01-27

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127122506/https://jung-stiftung.de/die-preise/ernst-jung-preis-fuer-medizin/preistraeger-1976-bis-2019/

|url-status=dead

}}

K-J. Zülch Prize (1999, awarded by the Max Planck Society, now known as The International Prize for Translational Neuroscience of the Gertrud Reemtsma Foundation)

{{cite web

|title=Auszeichnung für neurologische Grundlagenforschung

|publisher=Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

|url=https://www.mpg.de/preise/international-prize-for-translational-neuroscience

|access-date=2022-05-02

}}