Werner Reutter, Professor Emeritus, Free University Berlin, Germany, passed away on May 28, 2016.
Professor Reutter’s research focused on glycomics, the study of sugars in living organisms. He was especially interested in sialic acid, a monosaccharide which is important for neural transmission. It can also be used to modify cell surfaces. He co-discovered that galactosamine can induce a hepatitis in rats that resembles human viral hepatitis, a fact that has been widely used in animal studies. Professor Reutter also worked on galactose as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Werner Reutter studied medicine and physics at the Universities of Freiburg and Munich, Germany. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg in 1962 for work on the biosynthesis and mechanism of action of anaphylotoxin. He remained in Freiburg, first as a Research Fellow, later as Research Assistant. In 1972, he became Lecturer for Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1978. in 1979, he joined the Free University Berlin as Full Professor for Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry, where he remained until his retirement in 2007.
Among other honors, Werner Reutter received the Pfizer Research Award in 1967, the Gerhard-Domagk-Award for Cancer Research in 1982, the Sasse Award for the Advancement of Immune Therapy in 1986, and the Rosalind Kornfeld Award for Life-Time Achievement in Glycobiology in 2012.
Selected Publications by Werner Reutter
- Two-Color Glycan Labeling of Live Cells by a Combination of Diels-Alder and Click Chemistry,
Andrea Niederwieser, Anne-Katrin Späte, Long Duc Nguyen, Christian Jüngst, Werner Reutter, Valentin Wittmann,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 4265–4268.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201208991 - GLIS, a bioactive proteoglycan fraction from Ganoderma lucidum, displays anti-tumour activity by increasing both humoral and cellular immune response,
Jingsong Zhang, Qingjiu Tang, Changyan Zhou, Wei Jia, Luis Da Silva, Long Duc Nguyen, Werner Reutter, Hua Fan,
Life Sci. 2010, 87, 628–637.
DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2010.09.026 - Sialic acid metabolism is involved in the regulation of gene expression during neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells,
Maria Kontou, Christian Bauer, Werner Reutter, Rüdiger Horstkorte,
Glycoconjugate J. 2008, 25, 237–244.
DOI: 10.1007/s10719-008-9104-1 - Engineering the sialic acid in organs of mice using N-propanoylmannosamine,
Daniel Gagiannis, Reinhart Gossrau, Werner Reutter, Martin Zimmermann-Kordmann, Rüdiger Horstkorte,
Biochim. Biophys. Acta, Gen. Subj. 2007, 1770, 297–306.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2006.09.023 - Comparative proteomics of rat liver and Morris hepatoma 7777 plasma membranes,
James G. Clifton, Xuesong Li, Werner Reutter, Douglas C. Hixson, Djuro Josic,
J. Chromatogr. B 2007, 849, 293–301.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2006.08.047 - Enhanced sialylation of EPO by overexpression of UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManAc kinase containing a sialuria mutation in CHO cells,
Kaya Bork, Werner Reutter, Wenke Weidemann, Rüdiger Horstkorte,
FEBS Lett. 2007, 581, 4195–4198.
DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.07.060 - Experimental hepatitis induced by D-galactosamine,
D. Keppler, R. Lesch, W. Reutter, K. Decker,
Exp. Mol. Pathol. 1968, 2, 279–290.
DOI: 10.1016/0014-4800(68)90042-7
