Curriculum vitae - Institut für Bioorganische Chemie

Dr. rer. nat. Thomas Classen
biochemist, group-leader enzymology
*13th of March 1984 in Mönchengladbach, Germany
Academic Stages
2003 Abitur
2004 Bachelor studies in biochemistry at the
Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf
2007 Bachelor thesis at the group of Prof. Dr Groth
Institute for Biochemical Plant Physiology
2007 Master studies in biochemistry at the
Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf
2009 Master thesis at the group of Prof. Dr. Pietruszka
Institute for Bioorganic Chemistry
»Pyruvate dependent Aldolases – Development of a Screening«
2009-2012 Doctoral studies
Scholarship of the NRW Researsch School BioStruct
July 2013 Doctoral defence
Ȇber Enzyme als facettenreiche Katalysatoren in der Organischen
Chemie«
since 2014 Group leader Enzymology
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences: Biotechnology
Forschungszentrum Jülich
since 2015 Junior group leader Secondary Metabolism Enzymology
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences: Biotechnology
Forschungszentrum Jülich
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Publications
C. Bisterfeld, T. Classen, I. Küberl née Kullartz, B. Henßen, A. Metz, H. Gohlke, J. Pietruszka, PLoS ONE, 2016, 11(6), e0156525, 'Redesigning aldolase stereoselectivity by homologous grafting'
T. Classen, F. Kovacic, B. Lauinger, J. Pietruszka, K.-E. Jaeger, 2016, 'Screening for enantioselective lipases' In Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols. Eds. T. J. McGenity,
K. N. Timmis and B. Nogales. Springer, accepted
T. Classen, J. Pietruszka, M. Schölzel, 2016, accepted ISBN 978-1-118-60525-7, 'Stereoselective Synthesis of (R)-Profen Derivatives by the Enoate Reductase YqjM' in Prac. Meth.
Biocatal. Biotransform., Vol. 3 – Edited by John Whittall, Peter Sutton and Wolfgang Kroutil
M. Dick, R. Hartmann, O. H. Weiergraeber, C. Bisterfeld, T. Classen, M. Schwarten, P.
Neudecker, D. Willbold, J. Pietruszka, Chem. Sci. 2016; 'Mechanism-based inhibition of an
aldolase at high concentrations of its natural substrate acetaldehyde: Structural insights and
protective strategies'.
M. Dick, O. H. Weiergräber, T. Classen, C. Bisterfeld, J. Bramski, H. Gohlke, J. Pietruszka,
2016, Sci. Rep. 6 'Trading off stability against activity in extremophilic aldolases'.
A. Domröse, A. S. Klein, J. Hage-Hülsmann, S. Thies , V. Svensson, T. Classen, J. Pietruszka, K.-E. Jaeger, T. Drepper, A. Loeschcke, 2015, Front. Microbiol., 15;6:972, 'Efficient recombinant production of prodigiosin in Pseudomonas putida'.
E. Rüthlein, T. Classen, L. Dobnikar, M. Schölzel, J. Pietruszka, Adv. Synth. Catal.
2015, 357, 1775-1786; 'Finding the Selectivity Switch - A Rational Approach towards Stereocomplementary Variants of the Ene Reductase YqjM'.
W. Liebl, A. Angelov, J. Juergensen, J. Chow, A. Loeschcke, T. Drepper, T. Classen, J. Pietruzska, A. Ehrenreich, W. R. Streit, K.-E. Jaeger, Appl. Microbiol. Biotech. 2014, 1-11;
'Alternative hosts for functional (meta) genome analysis'.
T. Classen, M. Korpak, M. Schölzel, J. Pietruszka, ACS Catal. 2014, 4, 1321-1331;
'Stereoselective Enzyme Cascades: An Efficient Synthesis of Chiral γ-Butyrolactones'
T. Classen , Hrsg. J. Pietruszka, Düsseldorf University Press, ISBN 978-3-943460-52-0,
2013; 'Über Enzyme als facettenreiche Katalysatoren in der Organischen Chemie / vorgelegt
von Thomas Classen' in der Reihe 'Bioorganische Chemie an der Heinrich-Heine-Universität
Düsseldorf'; Bd. 15
T. Classen, J. Pietruszka, S. M. Schuback, ChemCatChem 2013, 5, 711-713; 'Revisiting the
Enantioselective Sequence Patterns in Enoate Reductases'
T. Classen, J. Pietruszka, S. M. Schuback, Prot. Expr. Purif. 2013, 89, 97-108; 'A new multicopper oxidase from Gram-positive bacterium Rhodococcus erythropolis with activity modulating methionine rich tail'
E. Classen, T. Classen, J. Pietruszka, GIT – Labor-Fachzeitschrift 2013, 252-254; 'Enzyme –
Selektivität nutzbar machen'
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Oral Presentations
Jülich Biotech Day, Germany, 30. October 2015; T. Classen, I. Küberl née Kullartz, M. Dick,
C. Bisterfeld, J. Pietruszka; 'Looking into the Mirror - Enantiocomplementary Biocatalysis in
Organic Synthesis'
23. Nachwuchswissenschaftler-Symposium Bioorganische Chemie, 24.-26. September 2014;
T. Classen 'Stereoselective Enzyme Cascades: An Efficient Synthesis of Chiral γButyrolactones'
Bioforum Pushchino Russian-German-Session, Pushchino, Russia, 22.-24. April 2014,
T. Classen, J. Pietruszka 'Pyruvate dependent Aldolases: Understanding Selectivity'
BioStruct Abschlusssymposium, Düsseldorf, 4.-6. Nov. 2013, T. Classen, D. Schlieper,
G. Groth, J. Pietruszka, 'KDPG Aldolase from Zymomonas mobilis understanding chemoselectivity'
Zechel Lab, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, 15. Oktober 2012, T. Classen, J. Pietruszka 'On Enzymes as multi-faceted Catalysts for Organic Chemistry'
AK Gilch, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 15. Dezember 2011, T. Classen, J. Pietruszka 'Chemoenzymatic C-C-Bond Formations'
Zentrum für Mikrobielle Biotechnologie, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 16. November 2011, T.
Classen, J. Pietruszka, 'Chemoenzymatic C-C-Bond Formations'.
BioStruct’s MasterClass 2011, 12.-15. September 2011, Düsseldorf T. Classen, S. Schuback,
J. Pietruszka, 'Multicopper oxidase CueO from Rhodococcus erythropolis'
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