Miguel A. Ballicora

Miguel A. Ballicora
	Title:	Assistant Professor Biochemistry
	Office:	405 Flanner Hall 1068 W Sheridan Rd Lake Shore Campus Chicago, IL 60626
	Phone:	(773) 508 3154
	E-mail:	mballic@luc.edu

Personal Information

Pharm.D., 1987, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ph.D., 1993, Leloir Institute, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Postdoctoral, 1993-2000, Michigan State University
Assistant Professor (Research), 2000-2005, Michigan State University

Research Interests

Starch & Enzyme Evolution

Our research focuses on the enzymes of the synthesis of glycogen in bacteria, and starch in plants, with a particular interest in their molecular evolution. These metabolic pathways are excellent candidates to study evolution of molecular function. They are related and developed early in evolution. In addition, they are regulated and composed by few enzymes.

We intend to find how regulation appeared and evolved in this pathway, how catalysis was modified, and how specificity for substrates originated. We use molecular modeling, phylogenetic analysis, protein chemistry, enzyme kinetics, and recombinant DNA technology to address these questions.

Our projects are very important not only for the basic knowledge of the evolution of these pathways, but also for more immediate purposes. Starch is the most abundant energy storage compound used by plants and determines the yield of important crops. A deeper knowledge of the enzymes of this pathway allows the rational manipulation of starch production. There is an increasing interest in this field because of its impact. The fruits of this basic science would serve to attack a critical problem of mankind: malnutrition.

Selected Publications

Ziegler, A.J., Florián, J., Ballicora, M.A. and Herlinger, A.W. (2008) "Alkaline phosphatase inhibition by vanadyl-Beta-diketone complexes: electron density effects " J. Enzym. Inhib. Med. Chem. in press.

Ballicora, M.A., Erben, E.D., Yazaki, T., Bertolo, A.L., Demonte, A.M., Schmidt, J.R., Aleanzi, M., Bejar, C.M., Figueroa, C.M., Fusari, C.M., Iglesias, A.A. and Preiss, J. (2007) "Identification of regions critically affecting kinetics and allosteric regulation of the Escherichia coli ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase by modeling and pentapeptide-scanning mutagenesis" J. Bacteriol. 189:5325-5333. [DOI]

Ventriglia, T., Ballicora, M.A., Crevillén, P., Preiss, J. and Romero, J.M. (2007) "Regulatory properties of potato-Arabidopsis hybrid ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase" Plant Cell Physiol. 48:875-880. [DOI]

Bejar, C.M., Ballicora, M.A., Iglesias, A.A. and Preiss, J. (2006) "ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase's N-terminus: structural role in allosteric regulation" Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 343:216-221. [DOI]

Bejar, C.M., Jin, X., Ballicora, M.A. and Preiss, J. (2006) "Molecular architecture of the glucose 1-phosphate site in ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylases" J. Biol. Chem. 281:40473-40484. [DOI]

Iglesias, A.A., Ballicora, M.A., Sesma, J.I. and Preiss, J. (2006) "Domain swapping between a cyanobacterial and a plant subunit ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase" Plant Cell Physiol. 47:523-530. [DOI]

Yep, A., Ballicora, M.A. and Preiss, J. (2006) "The ADP-glucose binding site of the Escherichia coli glycogen synthase" Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 453:188-196. [DOI]

Ballicora, M.A., Dubay, J.R., Devillers, C.H. and Preiss, J. (2005) "Resurrecting the ancestral enzymatic role of a modulatory subunit" J. Biol. Chem. 280:10189-10195. [DOI] [Pubmed] [Paper of the Week]

Jin, X., Ballicora, M.A., Preiss, J. and Geiger, J.H. (2005) "Crystal structure of potato tuber ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase" EMBO J. 24:694-704.[DOI] [Pubmed]

[Complete list]

Teaching