Markus Ralser

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Markus Ralser
Markus Ralser, 2022.jpg
Markus Ralser, 2022
Born3 April 1980
NationalityItalian
Alma mater University of Salzburg
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
University of Cambridge
AwardsWellcome Beit Prize
EMBO Gold Medal
Scientific career
Fields Metabolism
Institutions University of Cambridge
Francis Crick Institute
Charité
University of Oxford
Website ralser.group

Markus Ralser (born 3 April 1980 in Vipiteno, Italy) is an Italian biologist. His main research interest is metabolism of microorganisms. He is also known for his work on the origin of metabolism during the origin of life, and proteomics.

Contents

Life and career

Prof. Ralser serves since 2019 as head of the Institute of Biochemistry at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; [1] as well as since 2022 as group leader at the University of Oxford, UK.

He studied genetics and molecular biology in Salzburg, Austria. He completed his PhD in 2006 at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany, studying neurodegenerative diseases. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands, where he started to explore mass spectrometry. He returned to the MPI for Molecular Genetics in 2007 to become junior group leader, but in 2011 relocated his group to the University of Cambridge, UK. He relocated again, becoming group leader at the newly opened Francis Crick Institute in London in 2013 (senior group leader since 2019). [2] His group moved to Oxford in 2022.

Research

Ralser's two research groups use LC–MS to analyze the proteomes and metabolomes of microorganisms. The main model organism is the baking yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ), but other species, such as pathogenic fungus Candida albicans and the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, are used too.

His lab not only uses LC–MS, but also develops novel LC–MS methods and protocols that improve detection accuracy, speed, and throughput. Specializing in data-independent acquisition, the group has developed scanning SWATH MS [3] and Zeno SWATH MS [4] in collaboration with MS manufacturer SCIEX. Both methods greatly improve upon SWATH MS, which was developed in Switzerland in 2012. [5] The group additionally developed an acquisition method—DIA-NN—that uses neural networks. [6] But proteins and metabolites are not the only focus: in 2022 the lab developed a protocol for the accurate quantification of DNA methylation using LCMS. [7]

Key research topics include:

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Ralser group developed a proteomics panel assay for the assessment of disease severity and for the prediction of outcome. [20] The assay quantifies 50 peptides derived from 30 proteins found in a patient's blood plasma. The lab found that these proteins can serve as markers: their abundance strongly correlates with COVID-19 severity and outcome. The assay can be performed at a routine clinical laboratory, and has become commercially available.

As of January 2025, Ralser has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles that have been cited more than 25,000 times. [21]

Awards

References

  1. Wallach, Iwona (3 January 2023). "Institute of Biochemisty". Charitė – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
  2. "The Ralser Lab". Francis Crick Institute. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  3. Messner, Christoph B.; Demichev, Vadim; Bloomfield, Nic; Yu, Jason S. L.; White, Matthew; Kreidl, Marco; Egger, Anna-Sophia; Freiwald, Anja; Ivosev, Gordana; Wasim, Fras; Zelezniak, Aleksej; Jürgens, Linda; Suttorp, Norbert; Sander, Leif Erik; Kurth, Florian (July 2021). "Ultra-fast proteomics with Scanning SWATH". Nature Biotechnology. 39 (7): 846–854. doi:10.1038/s41587-021-00860-4. ISSN   1546-1696. PMC   7611254 . PMID   33767396.
  4. Wang, Ziyue; Mülleder, Michael; Batruch, Ihor; Chelur, Anjali; Textoris-Taube, Kathrin; Schwecke, Torsten; Hartl, Johannes; Causon, Jason; Castro-Perez, Jose; Demichev, Vadim; Tate, Stephen; Ralser, Markus (14 April 2022). "High-throughput proteomics of nanogram-scale samples with Zeno SWATH DIA". eLife. 11: 2022.04.14.488299. bioRxiv   10.1101/2022.04.14.488299 . doi: 10.7554/elife.83947 . PMC   9711518 . PMID   36449390.
  5. Gillet, Ludovic C.; Navarro, Pedro; Tate, Stephen; Röst, Hannes; Selevsek, Nathalie; Reiter, Lukas; Bonner, Ron; Aebersold, Ruedi (1 June 2012). "Targeted Data Extraction of the MS/MS Spectra Generated by Data-independent Acquisition: A New Concept for Consistent and Accurate Proteome Analysis *". Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. 11 (6): O111.016717. doi: 10.1074/mcp.O111.016717 . ISSN   1535-9476. PMC   3433915 . PMID   22261725.
  6. Demichev, Vadim; Messner, Christoph B.; Vernardis, Spyros I.; Lilley, Kathryn S.; Ralser, Markus (January 2020). "DIA-NN: neural networks and interference correction enable deep proteome coverage in high throughput". Nature Methods. 17 (1): 41–44. doi:10.1038/s41592-019-0638-x. ISSN   1548-7105. PMC   6949130 . PMID   31768060.
  7. Varma, Sreejith Jayasree; Calvani, Enrica; Grüning, Nana-Maria; Messner, Christoph B; Grayson, Nicholas; Capuano, Floriana; Mülleder, Michael; Ralser, Markus (28 July 2022). Tyler, Jessica K (ed.). "Global analysis of cytosine and adenine DNA modifications across the tree of life". eLife. 11: e81002. doi: 10.7554/eLife.81002 . ISSN   2050-084X. PMC   9333990 . PMID   35900202.
  8. Ralser, Markus; Varma, Sreejith J.; Notebaart, Richard A. (1 December 2021). "The evolution of the metabolic network over long timelines". Current Opinion in Systems Biology. 28: 100402. doi: 10.1016/j.coisb.2021.100402 . ISSN   2452-3100. S2CID   239505820.
  9. Campbell, Kate; Vowinckel, Jakob; Mülleder, Michael; Malmsheimer, Silke; Lawrence, Nicola; Calvani, Enrica; Miller-Fleming, Leonor; Alam, Mohammad T; Christen, Stefan; Keller, Markus A; Ralser, Markus (26 October 2015). Balasubramanian, Mohan (ed.). "Self-establishing communities enable cooperative metabolite exchange in a eukaryote". eLife. 4: e09943. doi: 10.7554/eLife.09943 . ISSN   2050-084X. PMC   4695387 . PMID   26499891.
  10. Alam, Mohammad Tauqeer; Olin-Sandoval, Viridiana; Stincone, Anna; Keller, Markus A.; Zelezniak, Aleksej; Luisi, Ben F.; Ralser, Markus (10 July 2017). "The self-inhibitory nature of metabolic networks and its alleviation through compartmentalization". Nature Communications. 8 (1): 16018. Bibcode:2017NatCo...816018A. doi:10.1038/ncomms16018. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   5508129 . PMID   28691704.
  11. Mülleder, Michael; Calvani, Enrica; Alam, Mohammad Tauqeer; Wang, Richard Kangda; Eckerstorfer, Florian; Zelezniak, Aleksej; Ralser, Markus (6 October 2016). "Functional Metabolomics Describes the Yeast Biosynthetic Regulome". Cell. 167 (2): 553–565.e12. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.09.007. PMC   5055083 . PMID   27693354.
  12. Messner, Christoph B.; Demichev, Vadim; Muenzner, Julia; Aulakh, Simran; Röhl, Annika; Herrera-Domínguez, Lucía; Egger, Anna-Sophia; Kamrad, Stephan; Lemke, Oliver; Calvani, Enrica; Mülleder, Michael; Lilley, Kathryn S.; Kustatscher, Georg; Ralser, Markus (18 May 2022). "The Proteomic Landscape of Genome-Wide Genetic Perturbations": 2022.05.17.492318. doi:10.1101/2022.05.17.492318. hdl: 20.500.11820/bd58332b-7ec5-4b1f-93a8-4aaf0a055d53 . S2CID   248923566.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Muenzner, Julia; Trébulle, Pauline; Agostini, Federica; Messner, Christoph B.; Steger, Martin; Lehmann, Andrea; Caudal, Elodie; Egger, Anna-Sophia; Amari, Fatma; Barthel, Natalie; Chiara, Matteo De; Mülleder, Michael; Demichev, Vadim; Liti, Gianni; Schacherer, Joseph (8 April 2022). "The natural diversity of the yeast proteome reveals chromosome-wide dosage compensation in aneuploids": 2022.04.06.487392. doi:10.1101/2022.04.06.487392. S2CID   248087625.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. Campbell, Kate; Vowinckel, Jakob; Keller, Markus A.; Ralser, Markus (1 April 2016). "Methionine Metabolism Alters Oxidative Stress Resistance via the Pentose Phosphate Pathway". Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. 24 (10): 543–547. doi:10.1089/ars.2015.6516. ISSN   1523-0864. PMC   4827311 . PMID   26596469.
  15. Ralser, Markus; Wamelink, Mirjam M C; Latkolik, Simone; Jansen, Erwin E W; Lehrach, Hans; Jakobs, Cornelis (1 July 2009). "Metabolic reconfiguration precedes transcriptional regulation in the antioxidant response". Nature Biotechnology. 27 (7): 604–605. doi: 10.1038/nbt0709-604 . ISSN   1087-0156. PMID   19587661. S2CID   205269373.
  16. Keller, Markus A; Piedrafita, Gabriel; Ralser, Markus (1 August 2015). "The widespread role of non-enzymatic reactions in cellular metabolism". Current Opinion in Biotechnology. Systems biology • Nanobiotechnology. 34: 153–161. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2014.12.020. ISSN   0958-1669. PMC   4728180 . PMID   25617827.
  17. Keller, Markus A; Turchyn, Alexandra V; Ralser, Markus (1 April 2014). "Non-enzymatic glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway-like reactions in a plausible A rchean ocean". Molecular Systems Biology. 10 (4): 725. doi:10.1002/msb.20145228. ISSN   1744-4292. PMC   4023395 . PMID   24771084.
  18. Messner, Christoph B.; Driscoll, Paul C.; Piedrafita, Gabriel; De Volder, Michael F. L.; Ralser, Markus (11 July 2017). "Nonenzymatic gluconeogenesis-like formation of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate in ice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (28): 7403–7407. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.7403M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702274114 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5514728 . PMID   28652321.
  19. Yu, Jason S. L.; Correia-Melo, Clara; Zorrilla, Francisco; Herrera-Dominguez, Lucia; Wu, Mary Y.; Hartl, Johannes; Campbell, Kate; Blasche, Sonja; Kreidl, Marco; Egger, Anna-Sophia; Messner, Christoph B.; Demichev, Vadim; Freiwald, Anja; Mülleder, Michael; Howell, Michael (April 2022). "Microbial communities form rich extracellular metabolomes that foster metabolic interactions and promote drug tolerance". Nature Microbiology. 7 (4): 542–555. doi:10.1038/s41564-022-01072-5. ISSN   2058-5276. PMC   8975748 . PMID   35314781.
  20. Wang, Ziyue; Cryar, Adam; Lemke, Oliver; Tober-Lau, Pinkus; Ludwig, Daniela; Helbig, Elisa Theresa; Hippenstiel, Stefan; Sander, Leif-Erik; Blake, Daniel; Lane, Catherine S.; Sayers, Rebekah L.; Mueller, Christoph; Zeiser, Johannes; Townsend, StJohn; Demichev, Vadim (1 July 2022). "A multiplex protein panel assay for severity prediction and outcome prognosis in patients with COVID-19: An observational multi-cohort study". eClinicalMedicine. 49: 101495. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101495. ISSN   2589-5370. PMC   9181834 . PMID   35702332.
  21. "Markus Ralser". Google Scholar. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  22. "BMC Research Awards". BioMed Central. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  23. "Grants awarded: Wellcome-Beit Prize". The Wellcome Trust. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  24. "Wissenschafts- und Forschungspreis an Ralser und Kustatscher überreicht". Autonome Provinz Bozen – Südtirol. 5 December 2014.
  25. "Crick researcher awarded the Colworth Medal". The Francis Crick Institute. 30 March 2016.
  26. {{ |url= https://www.charite.de/forschung/themen_forschung/2019/biochemiker_prof_dr_markus_ralser_erhaelt_starling_medaille/ }}
  27. "Sarah-Maria Fendt and Markus Ralser awarded EMBO Gold Medal 2020". EMBO. 14 October 2020.
  28. {{ The 2025 Sydney Brenner Prize of the Academia Europaea |url=https://www2.ae-info.org/ae/Acad_Main/News/News2/2025%20Sydney%20Brenner%20Prize}}