Chapter 27. NMR Spectroscopy in Biological Systems

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the recent application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to the study of metabolism as it occurs in in situ and perfused organs and in cellular suspensions. Phosphorus-NMR (PNMR) spectroscopic studies have provided a wide variety of information on ex vivo brain tissue metabolism of the resting organ and more recently on the effects of hypoxia on a mammalian system. In brain metabolism, PNMR can be utilized to ascertain the intracellular pH and the bioenergetic status of the organ, and this can be correlated with changes in the function. A natural extension of this is the clinical application of NMR spectroscopy to study human, particularly neonate, cerebral function. Although the clinical applications of in vivo PNMR spectroscopy are far reaching, most basic research is still in the domain of the perfused animal model. Hydrogen-NMR (HNMR) spectroscopy is now being used to study the muscle preparations and extracts. H is more sensitive to the NMR experiment than P, and because of its ubiquitous distribution, a more complete range of tissue metabolites becomes accessible. In vivo PNMR spectroscopy has been applied determining the concentration and turnover of high-energy phosphates in the heart under various conditions. Recent progress in the study of liver metabolism by NMR spectroscopy has seen the use of carbon-13 surface coils. A recent review of the application of in vivo NMR spectroscopy to cancer covers metabolism by dispersed cells, excised tumors, and in vivo tumors. This diversity of available nuclides in tandem with further improvements in probe design and pulse sequences will, ensure the future of NMR spectroscopy as a viable technique for the study of biological systems.