Targeted DNP approaches for structural biology in complex biological environments

Abstract

Recent developments in NMR spectroscopy have pushed the boundaries of structural biology and enabled the investigation of biological molecules, large and small, in complex and native environments. However, the application of NMR in the cellular setting is still challenging due to the inherently low sensitivity of magnetic resonance techniques and the difficulty of selectively labeling only the component of interest in the crowded cellular environment. To address these challenges, my group has developed a targeted dynamic nuclear polarization (targeted DNP) approach that allows us to select a protein of interest in a complex mixture and to uniquely enhance its NMR signals over background.