Michael Assfalg
Associate Professor
Biotechnology
University of Verona
Italy
Biography
Michael Assfalg received the master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Florence in December 1997. He earned the Doctor of Phylosophy degree in Chemistry from the University of Florence in 2001. During his master’s and doctoral theses, he studied the structural and dynamic properties of proteins in solution via Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, focussing on paramagnetic metalloproteins. His research activity, also in the year following the PhD, was based in the Center of Magnetic Resonance, CERM, Florence, recognized as Large Scale Facility for NMR spectroscopy by the European Union. M.A. was post-doctoral research assistant from 2002 to 2004 at the University of Maryland, USA, where he applied the NMR technique to the study of poly-ubiquitin chains in solution, contributing to the understanding of their specificity towards substrates. From 2004 to 2005 he was research collaborator in the University spin-off Protera Srl. During that period he participated in a TOK European project, granted with a Marie Curie Fellowship, with secondment to the University of Frankfurt, Germany. He performed basic and applied research in the field of drug discovery and metabolomics, still focussing on applications of NMR spectroscopy. He contributed to the implementation of a metabolomics technology platform at CERM, in Florence, Italy. M.A. joined the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Verona in January 2006 as assistant professor of Organic Chemistry. He teaches and carries research studies in the fields of organic chemistry and biomolecular NMR spectroscopy. He is author of about 50 research publications in international peer-reviewed journals. M.A. is Director of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Facility of the University of Verona.
Research Interest
spectroscopy, paramagnetic metalloproteins,
Publications
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Assfalg M, Bertini I, Del Conte R, Giachetti A, Turano P.,â€Cytochrome c and organic molecules: solution structure of the p-aminophenol adduct., Biochemistry. 2007 May 29;46(21):6232-8.
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Eliseo T, Ragona L, Catalano M, Assfalg M, Paci M, Zetta L, Molinari H, Cicero DO. Structural and dynamic determinants of ligand binding in the ternary complex of chicken liver bile acid binding protein with two bile salts revealed by NMR. Biochemistry. 2007 Nov 6;46(44):12557-67.
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Guariento M, Raimondo D, Assfalg M, Zanzoni S, Pesente P, Ragona L, Tramontano A, Molinari H., “Identification and functional characterization of the bile acid transport proteins in non-mammalian ileum and mammalian liver.â€, Proteins. 2008 Feb 1;70(2):462-72.
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Assfalg M, Bertini I, Colangiuli D, Luchinat C, Schäfer H, Schütz B, Spraul M., “Evidence of different metabolic phenotypes in humans.â€, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Feb 5;105(5):1420-4
