Burghardt Wittig (born December 3, 1947) is a German professor of molecular biology and bioinformatics at Freie Universitaet Berlin in Berlin (FUB), Germany. He is known for his research in the fields of chromatin structure and gene regulation, DNA structures induced by torsional strain, and signal transduction mediated by G-proteins. In 2014, he is chairman (Vorstand) of the Foundation Institute Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics (FIMBB) at FUB, and also chairman of the Scientific and Strategic Advisory Board of Mologen.
Wittig was born in Celle, Germany.
Wittig was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984-1986 and 1987 - 1989.
In 1989 he became a full professor (S-C4) at Freie Universität Berlin, and was awarded the Schering Professorship. He became a founding chair, and later head of Molecular Biology and BioInformatics at the Institute for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (Institut fuer Molekularbiologie und Biochemie) at FUB. From 1987-89 he was supervisor of the PhD theses of Carsten Carlberg, who is since 2000 professor of Biochemistry at the University of Eastern Finland, and of Stefan Wölfl, who became professor of pharmaceutical biology at the University of Heidelberg.
Beginning in 1994, Wittig focused his research on the design, development, and clinical proof-of-concept of covalently closed DNA constructs for the treatment of cancer and for DNA-vaccines against infectious diseases. Two classes of DNA-molecules evolved through theoretical and experimental selection processes and became key technologies; MIDGE for minimalistic, immunogenically defined gene expression, and dSLIM for DNA-based immunomodulation.
To enable independent transition from basic research into DNA medicines, he founded Mologen AG in 1998. Mologen had their IPO at the German stock exchange in the same year, and Wittig served as CEO (Vorstandsvorsitzender) until end of 2007, while maintaining his full professorship at Freie Universitaet Berlin (FUB) in a private-public-partnership.
From 2003 - 2010 he was Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics at the Charité Berlin.
Wittig has published the results of his research in leading scientific journals, including Cell, Nature, PNAS, and Science.
Wittig, B; Wittig, S (1979). "A phase relationship associates tRNA structural gene sequences with nucleosome cores". Cell. 18 (4): 1173–1183. PMID 519765. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(79)90230-7.
Wittig, B; Wittig, S (1982). "Function of a tRNA gene promoter depends on nucleosome position". Nature. 297 (5861): 31–38. doi:10.1038/297031a0.
Wittig, B; Dorbic, T; Rich, A (1991). "Transcription is associated with Z-DNA formation in metabolically active, permeabilized mammalian cell nuclei" (PDF). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 88 (6): 2259–2263. doi:10.1073/pnas.88.6.2259.
Kleuss, C; Hescheler, J; Ewel, C; Rosenthal, W; Schultz, G; Wittig, B (1991). "Assignment of G-protein subtypes to specific receptors inducing inhibition of calcium currents". Nature. 353 (6339): 43–48. PMID 1679199. doi:10.1038/353043a0.
Kleuss, C; Scherübl, H; Hescheler, J; Schultz, G; Wittig, B (1993). "Selectivity in signal transduction determined by gamma subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins". Science. 259 (832–834): 40. doi:10.1126/science.8094261.
Müller, V; Takeya, M; Brendel, S; Wittig, B; Rich, A (1996). "Z-DNA forming sites within the human b-globin gene cluster". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93 (2): 780–784. PMC 40132 . PMID 8570634. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.2.780.
Wittig, B; Märten, A; Dorbic, T; Weineck, S; Min, H; Niemitz, S; Trojaneck, B; Flieger, D; Kruopis, S; Albers, A; Löffel, J; Neubauer, A; Albers, P; Müller, S; Sauerbruch, T; Bieber, T; Huhn, D; Schmidt-Wolf, IGH (2001). "Therapeutic vaccination against metastatic carcinoma by expression-modulated and immunomodified autologous tumor cells: A first clinical Phase I/II trial". Human Gene Therapy. 12 (3): 267–278. PMID 11177563. doi:10.1089/10430340150218404.
López-Fuertes, L; Pérez-Jiménez, E; Vila-Coro, AJ; Sack, F; Moreno, S; Konig, SA; Junghans, C; Wittig, B; Timón, M; Esteban, M (2002). "DNA vaccination with linear minimalistic (MIDGE) vectors confers protection against Leishmania major infection in mice". Vaccine. 21 (3–4): 247–57. PMID 12450700. doi:10.1016/s0264-410x(02)00450-4.
Weihrauch, MR; Ansen, S; Jurkiewicz, E; Geisen, C; Xia, Z; Anderson, KS; Gracien, E; Schmidt, M; Wittig, B; Diehl, V; Wolf, J; Bohlen, H; Nadler, LM (2005). "Phase I/II combined chemoimmunotherapy with carcinoembryonic antigen-derived HLA-A2-restricted CAP-1 peptide and irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin in patients with primary metastatic colorectal cancer". Clin Cancer Res. 11 (16): 5993–6001. PMID 16115944. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-05-0018.
Kneipp, J; Kneipp, H; Wittig, B; Kneipp, K (2007). "One- and two-photon excited optical ph probing for cells using surface-enhanced Raman and hyper-Raman nanosensors". Nano Lett. 7 (9): 2819–23. PMID 17696561. doi:10.1021/nl071418z.
Endmann, A; Baden, M; Weisermann, E; Kapp, K; Schroff, M; Kleuss, C; Wittig, B; Juhls, C (2010). "Immune response induced by a linear DNA vector: Influence of dose, formulation and route of injection". Vaccine. 28 (21): 3642–9. PMID 20362204. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.03.034.
Galling, N; Kobelt, D; Aumann, J; Schmidt, M; Wittig, B; Schlag, PM; Walther, W (2012). "Intratumoral dispersion, retention, systemic biodistribution, and clearance of a small-size TNF-a expressing MIDGE vector following nonviral in vivo jet-injection gene transfer". Hum Gene Ther Methods: 121017063203000. doi:10.1089/hum.2012.064.
