Werdegang:
1962-1968: Study of Chemistry at the Technische Hochschule Aachen
June 1968: Diploma
PhD work at Deutsches Wollforschungs Institut, Prof. H. Zahn, Aachen
March 1971: Ph.D
1971-1973: postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina
1974-1993 group leader at the Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Heidelberg
1992: Habilitation for Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, University Heidelberg, Germany
1993-June 2009 Director of the Department ‘Structural Biology’ at the Max Planck Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, Dortmund
Honorar-Professor for Biochemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry Ruhr-Universität Bochum
2009-2017 Emeritus Group Leader at the Max Planck Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, Dortmund, Germany
Retired since 2017

Forschungsschwerpunkte:
Structural Biochemistry of GTP-binding proteins
First (coorect ) structure of the oncoprotein Ras, study of biochemical properties
Its interaction with GAP, demonstration why the mutants block GTP hydrolysis
Biochemistry and structure of Ran, its interactions with RCC1, RanGAP (actual discvery) , its effecvtors such as Importin
Discovery of GEF family of Rho of plants
Guanylate bindng protein, discovery of GTPase and unique GDPase mechnism
PDEd and unc19 as transport factors for lipidated proteins, and potential Ras target protein
Arl3 as a ciliary transport regulator, discovery of its GEF and GAP

Mitgliedschaften und Funktionen:
EMBO Member
Member German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Member of the Academia Europaea
Obmann/Senator, German Academy of Scieces Leopoldina (2011-2017)
Member, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Künste
Honorary Member of the Japanese Biochemical Society
Fellow of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences
Member of the GBM,  2007-2009 president

Auszeichnungen und Ehrungen:
Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine 2001
Richard-Kuhn-Medal of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh),  2002
Deutscher Krebspreis 2003 der Deutschen Krebsgesellschaft e.V.
Otto-Warburg-Medal of the GBM, 2003
Many award lectures
ERC Advanced Grant 2011
2019 Prize of the German Signal Transduction Society

Ausgewählte Publikationen:
K. Scheffzek, M.R. Ahmadian, W. Kabsch, L. Wiesmüller, A. Lautwein, F. Schmitz, and A. Wittinghofer
The Ras-RasGAP complex: Structural basis for GTPase activation and its loss in oncogenic Ras mutants.
Science 277, 333-338 (1997)
L. Renault, N. Nassar, I. Vetter, J. Becker, M. Roth, and A. Wittinghofer
The 1.7 Å crystal structure of the regulator of chromosome condensation (RCC1) reveals a seven-bladed propeller.
Nature 392, 97-101 (1998)
I.R. Vetter, C. Nowak, T. Nishimoto, J. Kuhlmann, and A. Wittinghofer
Structure of the Ran-GppNHp-RanBD1 complex: A molecular embrace and its implication for nuclear transport.
Nature 398, 39-46 (1999)
I.R. Vetter, A. Arndt, U. Kutay, D. Görlich, and A. Wittinghofer
Structural view of the Ran-Importin ß interaction at 2.3 Å resolution. Cell 97, 635-646 (1999)
B. Prakash, G.J.K. Praefcke, L. Renault, A. Wittinghofer, and C. Herrmann
Structure of human guanylate-binding protein 1 representing a unique class of GTP-binding proteins.
Nature 403, 567-571 (2000)
I.R. Vetter and A. Wittinghofer
The guanine nucleotide-binding switch in three dimensions. Science 294, 1299-1304 (2001)
O. Rocks, A. Peyker, M. Kahms, P.J. Verveer, C. Koerner, M. Lumbierres, J. Kuhlmann, H. Waldmann, A. Wittinghofer,and P.I.H. Bastiaens. An acylation cycle regulates localization and activity of palmitoylated Ras isoforms.
Science 307, 1746-1752 (2005)
R. Rose, M. Weyand, M. Lammers, T. Ishizaki, M.R. Ahmadian, and A. Wittinghofer
Structural and mechanistic insights into the interaction between Rho and mammalian Dia. Nature 435, 513-518 (2005)
A. Berken, C. Thomas, and A. Wittinghofer
A new family of RhoGEFs activates the Rop molecular switch in plants. Nature 436, 1176-1180 (2005)
A. Ghosh, G.J.K. Praefcke, L. Renault, A. Wittinghofer, and C. Herrmann
How Human Guanylate Binding Protein 1 achieves assembly stimulated, processive GTP-GDP-GMP cleavage. Nature 440, 101-104 (2006)
S. Veltel, R. Gasper, E. Eisenacher and A. Wittinghofer
The retinitis pigmentosa 2 (RP2) gene product is a GTPase-Activating protein (GAP) for Arl3.  Nature Struct Mol. Biol. 15, 373-380 (2008)
S. A. Ismail, Y.-X. Chen, A. Rusinova, A. Chandra, M. Bierbaum, L. Gremer, G. Triola, H. Waldmann, P.I.H. Bastiaens and A. Wittinghofer
Arl2-GTP and Arl3-GTP regulate a GDI-like transport system for farnesylated cargo. Nature Chemical Biology 7, 942-949 (2011)
G. Zimmermann, B. Papke, S. Ismail, A. Chandra, N. Vartak, A. Chandra, M. Hoffmann, S.A. Hahn, G. Triola, A. Wittinghofer, P.I.H. Bastiaens, H. Waldmann
Small molecule inhibition of the KRAS-PDEd interaction impairs oncogenic KRAS signaling. Nature 497, 638-642 (2013)