Enzymology of Complex Alpha-Glucans

Felix Nitschke received his Ph.D. from the University of Potsdam, Germany (2013), under Dr. Martin Steup, an accomplished expert in starch metabolism. Early on Dr. Nitschke’s work focused on particular glycogen storage diseases where pathological insoluble "starch-like" glycogen particles are accumulating, and for instance, drive the progressive childhood-onset epilepsy Lafora disease. After a post-doc under Dr. Berge Minassian at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, Dr. Nitschke was recruited as Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Morphological and Structural Aspects of a -Glucan Particles from Electron Microscopy Observations. Polarimetric Nonlinear Microscopy of Starch Granules: Visualization of the Structural Order of α-Glucan Chains within a Native Starch Particle. Analyses of Covalent Modifications in α-Glucans. Storage Polysaccharide Metabolism in Micro-Organisms. Mammalian Glycogen Metabolism: Enzymology, Regulation, and Animal Models of Dysregulated Glycogen Metabolism. The Pathologies of a Dysfunctional Glycogen Metabolism. Reversible Phosphorylation in Glycogen and Starch. Starch Granules and their Glucan Components. Regulation of Assimilatory Starch Metabolism by Cellular Carbohydrate Status. Reserve Starch Metabolism. Heteromeric Protein Interactions in Starch Synthesis.