# Michael Rape
**Michael Rape** (also spelled Michael Rapé) is a molecular and cell biologist at the [University of California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california), Berkeley, known for work on ubiquitin signaling, the post-translational modifier that cells use to control cell fate. He has been an Investigator of the [Howard Hughes Medical Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-hughes-medical-institute) since 2013.[2](https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/michael-rape) His laboratory studies how ubiquitin chains are assembled and how they direct cell division, stem cell decisions, and stress responses.[2](https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/michael-rape)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field | Ubiquitin signaling, cell cycle control, protein quality control |
| Training | Doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry[3](https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/1014/1/Dissertation_Rape_2002.pdf) |
| Signature work | Discovery of the segregase CDC48/p97; 2008 discovery of Ube2S and its ubiquitin chain; 2014 branched K11-chain mechanism; 2017 K11/K48 heterotypic chain paper in Cell |
| Translation | Co-founder of Nurix Therapeutics (2009), the first company focused on targeted protein degradation, and of four biotech companies in all |
## Education and career
Rape received a diploma (equivalent to an M.Sc.) in biochemistry from Bayreuth University in 1999, with highest honors, and his doctorate. His dissertation, *Regulation der Transkription durch das Ubiquitin/Proteasom System*, was carried out between November 1999 and September 2002 under Prof. Dr. [Stefan Jentsch](https://www.edgepedia.org/stefan-jentsch).[3](https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/1014/1/Dissertation_Rape_2002.pdf) He was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Marc W. Kirschner in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School from 2003 to 2006.[1](https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/rape/extras/Biosketch_2025.pdf)
He joined UC Berkeley as Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in October 2006, became Associate Professor with tenure in July 2011, and Professor in 2013.[1](https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/rape/extras/Biosketch_2025.pdf) He became the K. Peter Hirth Chair of Cancer Biology in 2014, became Founding Head of the Division of Molecular Therapeutics in 2022, and is Professor of Molecular Therapeutics.[1](https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/rape/extras/Biosketch_2025.pdf)
## Representative work
During his doctoral work Rape discovered the first ubiquitin-dependent chaperone, the segregase CDC48/p97, a machine that pulls ubiquitinated proteins out of membranes and complexes; the work was recognized with the Otto-Hahn Medal.[4](https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/events/2020/10/michael-rape) In Kirschner's laboratory he uncovered principles of ordered protein degradation during cell division.[4](https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/events/2020/10/michael-rape)
In 2008 his laboratory discovered a new ubiquitin chain configuration and determined how the enzyme Ube2S assembles it inside cells; without Ube2S and the chain, cells cannot divide.[5](https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/michael-rape)
In 2014 his group showed in Cell that the anaphase-promoting complex efficiently synthesizes branched conjugates containing multiple blocks of K11-linked chains; compared with homogeneous chains, these branched conjugates strongly enhance substrate recognition by the proteasome and drive degradation of cell-cycle regulators during early mitosis.[6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4028144/) In a 2016 review in Nature Cell Biology, *The increasing complexity of the ubiquitin code*, he surveyed how the expanding set of ubiquitin chain types shapes signaling.[7](https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3358) A 2017 Cell paper engineered a bispecific antibody to detect endogenous K11/K48-linked chains and identified mitotic regulators, misfolded nascent polypeptides, and pathological [Huntingtin](https://www.edgepedia.org/huntingtin) variants as their substrates, showing that the branched polymers speed substrate delivery to the proteasome and prevent accumulation of aggregation-prone nascent proteins.[8](https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/rape/reprints/Yau_Cell_2017.pdf) A 2023 Cell paper from his laboratory identified the E3 ligase UBR5 as a signaling hub that degrades unpaired subunits of multiple transcriptional regulators acting in a network centered on the c-Myc oncoprotein, tying protein quality control directly to gene expression.[9](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.06.015)
## Research program
The laboratory studies molecular mechanisms of cell fate decisions, including how a stem cell commits to one lineage over another, using the post-translational modifier ubiquitin as a starting point.[2](https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/michael-rape) Current targets include the E3 ligases UBR4 and UBR5 and the proteins that recognize K11/K48-branched chains.[10](https://ubiquitin.berkeley.edu/research.html) The lab combines genetic screens, structural biology, biochemistry, and high-throughput chemical screening to discover stress response pathways that safeguard human development.[5](https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/michael-rape)
## Companies and translation
Rape is co-founder of four biotech companies, including [Nurix Therapeutics](https://www.edgepedia.org/nurix-therapeutics), the first company focused on targeted protein degradation, which is now publicly traded and clinical-stage; he is also an iPartner with [The Column Group](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-column-group).[5](https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/michael-rape) He co-founded Nurix in 2009 to develop therapies that modulate the cell's protein machinery, and the company was named by Forbes as one of its top startups in 2015.[11](https://blavatnikawards.org/news/items/2016-national-laureates/) He has developed molecular glues, therapeutic agents that eliminate disease-causing proteins by targeting them to the ubiquitin machinery.[12](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/michael-rape/)
## Honors and recognition
His work has also been recognized with the Otto-Hahn Medal, a Pew Scholar's Award, and the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise.[4](https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/events/2020/10/michael-rape)
## Recent developments
Work has moved toward stress responses and neurodegeneration. The laboratory also published *Reactive oxygen species control protein degradation at the mitochondrial import gate* in Molecular Cell in 2024, and *Molecular basis of SIFI activity in the integrated stress response* in Nature in 2025.[13](https://ubiquitin.berkeley.edu/publications.html) All effectors of K11/K48-branched ubiquitin chains are mutated in familial forms of neurodegenerative diseases.[10](https://ubiquitin.berkeley.edu/research.html)
## References
1. [Curriculum vitae, Michael Rape (2025), UC Berkeley](https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/rape/extras/Biosketch_2025.pdf)
2. [Michael Rape, PhD | Investigator Profile | HHMI](https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/michael-rape)
3. [Regulation der Transkription durch das Ubiquitin/Proteasom System, Dissertation, Universität Bayreuth (2002)](https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/1014/1/Dissertation_Rape_2002.pdf)
4. [QBI/Gladstone seminar with Michael Rape, UCSF School of Pharmacy](https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/events/2020/10/michael-rape)
5. [Michael Rape, UC Berkeley Research](https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/michael-rape)
6. [Enhanced protein degradation by branched ubiquitin chains (Cell, 2014)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4028144/)
7. [The increasing complexity of the ubiquitin code (Nature Cell Biology, 2016)](https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3358)
8. [Assembly and Function of Heterotypic Ubiquitin Chains in Cell-Cycle and Protein Quality Control (Cell, 2017)](https://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/rape/reprints/Yau_Cell_2017.pdf)
9. [Orphan quality control shapes network dynamics and gene expression (Cell, 2023)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.06.015)
10. [Rape Lab research overview, UC Berkeley](https://ubiquitin.berkeley.edu/research.html)
11. [2016 National Laureates, Blavatnik Awards](https://blavatnikawards.org/news/items/2016-national-laureates/)
12. [Michael Rape, Blavatnik Awards honoree profile](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/michael-rape/)
13. [Rape Lab publications, UC Berkeley](https://ubiquitin.berkeley.edu/publications.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in molecular and cell biology › Molecular biology of the cell / cell signaling › Stress and developmental signaling researchers › Stress, hypoxia, and metabolism researchers*
*Initially written Sep 20, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license