Carbonyl 13C Research Articles

Adiabatic Passage through Level Anticrossings in Systems of Chemically Inequivalent Protons Incorporating Parahydrogen: Theory, Experiment, and Prospective Applications.

Level anticrossings (LACs) are ubiquitous in quantum systems and have been exploited for spin-order transfer in hyperpolarized nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This paper examines the manifestations of adiabatic passage through a specific type of LAC found in homonuclear systems of chemically inequivalent coupled protons incorporating parahydrogen (pH2). Adiabatic passage through such a LAC is shown to elicit translation of the pH2 spin order. As an example, with prospective applications in biomedicine, proton spin polarizations of at least 19.8 ± 2.6% on the methylene protons and 68.7 ± 0.5% on the vinylic protons of selectively deuterated allyl pyruvate ester are demonstrated experimentally. After ultrasonic spray injection of a precursor solution containing propargyl pyruvate and a dissolved Rh catalyst into a chamber pressurized with 99% para-enriched H2, the products are collected and transported to a high magnetic field for NMR detection. The LAC-mediated hyperpolarization of the methylene protons is significant because of the stronger spin coupling to the pyruvate carbonyl 13C, setting up an ideal initial condition for subsequent coherence transfer by selective INEPT. Furthermore, the selective deuteration of the propargyl side arm increases the efficiency and polarization level. LAC-mediated translation of parahydrogen spin order completes the first step toward a new and highly efficient route for the 13C NMR signal enhancement of pyruvate via side-arm hydrogenation with parahydrogen.

Cholesterol Modulates the Interaction between HIV-1 Viral Protein R and Membrane.

Being a major metabolite for maintaining cellular homeostasis, as well as an important structural component in lipid membrane, cholesterol also plays critical roles in the life cycles of some viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). The involvement of cholesterol in HIV-1 infectivity, assembly and budding has made it an important research target. Viral protein R (Vpr) is an accessory protein of HIV-1, which is involved in many major events in the life cycle of HIV-1. In addition to its multi-functional roles in the HIV-1 life cycle, it is shown to interact with lipid membrane and form a cation-selective channel. In this work, we examined the effect of cholesterol on the interaction of Vpr and lipid membrane. Using calcein release assay, we found that the membrane permeability induced by the membrane binding of Vpr was significantly reduced in the presence of cholesterol in membrane. In addition, using solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy, Vpr was shown to experience multiple chemical environments in lipid membrane, as indicated by the broad line shape of carbonyl 13C resonance of Cys-76 residue ranging from 165–178 ppm, which can be attributed to the existence of complex Vpr-membrane environments. We further showed that the presence of cholesterol in membrane will alter the distribution of Vpr in the complex membrane environments, which may explain the change of the Vpr induced membrane permeability in the presence of cholesterol.

Hyperpolarization of Amino Acids in Water Utilizing Parahydrogen on a Rhodium Nanocatalyst

NMR offers many possibilities in chemical analysis, structural investigations, and medical diagnostics. Although it is broadly used, one of NMR spectroscopies main drawbacks is low sensitivity. Hyperpolarization techniques enhance NMR signals by more than four orders of magnitude allowing the design of new contrast agents. Parahydrogen induced polarization that utilizes the para-hydrogen's singlet state to create enhanced signals is of particular interest since it allows to produce molecular imaging agents within seconds. Herein, we present a strategy for signal enhancement of the carbonyl 13 C in amino acids by using parahydrogen, as demonstrated for glycine and alanine. Importantly, the hyperpolarization step is carried out in water and chemically unmodified canonical amino acids are obtained. Our approach thus offers a high degree of biocompatibility, which is crucial for further application. The rapid sample hyperpolarization (within seconds) may enable the continuous production of biologically useful probes, such as metabolic contrast agents or probes for structural biology.

Dynamic nuclear polarization of carbonyl and methyl 13C spins of acetate using 4-oxo-TEMPO free radical.

Hyperpolarization of 13C-enriched biomolecules via dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) has enabled real-time metabolic imaging of a variety of diseases with superb specificity and sensitivity. The source of the unprecedented liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic or imaging signal enhancements of >10 000-fold is the microwave-driven DNP process that occurs at a relatively high magnetic field and cryogenic temperature. Herein, we have methodically investigated the relative efficiencies of 13C DNP of single or double 13C-labeled sodium acetate with or without 2H-enrichment of the methyl group and using a 4-oxo-TEMPO free radical as the polarizing agent at 3.35 T and 1.4 K. The main finding of this work is that not all 13C spins in acetate are polarized with equal DNP efficiency using this relatively wide electron spin resonance linewidth free radical. In fact, the carbonyl 13C spins have about twice the solid-state 13C polarization level of methyl 13C spins. Deuteration of the methyl group provides a DNP signal improvement of methyl 13C spins on a par with that of carbonyl 13C spins. On the other hand, both the double 13C-labeled [1,2-13C2] acetate and [1,2-13C2, 2H3] acetate have a relative solid-state 13C polarization at the level of [2-13C] acetate. Meanwhile, the solid-state 13C T1 relaxation times at 3.35 T and 1.4 K were essentially the same for all six isotopomers of 13C acetate. These results suggest that the intramolecular environment of 13C spins plays a prominent role in determining the 13C DNP efficiency, while the solid phase 13C T1 relaxation of these samples is dominated by the paramagnetic effect due to the relatively high concentration of free radicals.

Amino Acid Selective 13C Labeling and 13C Scrambling Profile Analysis of Protein α and Side-Chain Carbons in Escherichia coli Utilized for Protein Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

Amino acid selective isotope labeling is an important nuclear magnetic resonance technique, especially for larger proteins, providing strong bases for the unambiguous resonance assignments and information concerning the structure, dynamics, and intermolecular interactions. Amino acid selective 15N labeling suffers from isotope dilution caused by metabolic interconversion of the amino acids, resulting in isotope scrambling within the target protein. Carbonyl 13C atoms experience less isotope scrambling than the main-chain 15N atoms do. However, little is known about the side-chain 13C atoms. Here, the 13C scrambling profiles of the Cα and side-chain carbons were investigated for 15N scrambling-prone amino acids, such as Leu, Ile, Tyr, Phe, Thr, Val, and Ala. The level of isotope scrambling was substantially lower in 13Cα and 13C side-chain labeling than in 15N labeling. We utilized this reduced scrambling-prone character of 13C as a simple and efficient method for amino acid selective 13C labeling using an Escherichia coli cold-shock expression system and high-cell density fermentation. Using this method, the 13C labeling efficiency was >80% for Leu and Ile, ∼60% for Tyr and Phe, ∼50% for Thr, ∼40% for Val, and 30-40% for Ala. 1H-15N heteronuclear single-quantum coherence signals of the 15N scrambling-prone amino acid were also easily filtered using 15N-{13Cα} spin-echo difference experiments. Our method could be applied to the assignment of the 55 kDa protein.

Spectroscopic Characterization of Aqua [ fac-Tc(CO)3]+ Complexes at High Ionic Strength.

Understanding fundamental Tc chemistry is important to both the remediation of nuclear waste and the reprocessing of nuclear fuel; however, current knowledge of the electronic structure and spectral signatures of low-valent Tc compounds significantly lags behind the remainder of the d-block elements. In particular, identification and treatment of Tc speciation in legacy nuclear waste is challenging due to the lack of reference data especially for Tc compounds in the less common oxidation states (I-VI). In an effort to establish a spectroscopic library corresponding to the relevant conditions of extremely high ionic strength typical for the legacy nuclear waste, compounds with the general formula of [ fac-Tc(CO)3(OH2)3- n(OH) n]1- n (where n = 0-3) were examined by a range of spectroscopic techniques including 99Tc/13C NMR, IR, XPS, and XAS. In the series of monomeric aqua species, stepwise hydrolysis results in the increase of the Tc metal center electron density and corresponding progressive decrease of the Tc-C bond distances, Tc electron binding energies, and carbonyl stretching frequencies in the order [ fac-Tc(CO)3(OH2)3]+ > [ fac-Tc(CO)3(OH2)2(OH)] > [ fac-Tc(CO)3(OH2)(OH)2]-. These results correlate with established trends of the 99Tc upfield chemical shift and carbonyl 13C downfield chemical shift. The lone exception is [ fac-Tc(CO)3(OH)]4 which exhibits a comparatively low electron density at the metal center attributed to the μ3-bridging nature of the -OH ligands causing less σ-donation and no π-donation. This work also reports the first observations of these compounds by XPS and [ fac-Tc(CO)3Cl3]2- by XAS. The unique and distinguishable spectral features of the aqua [ fac-Tc(CO)3]+ complexes lay the foundation for their identification in the complex aqueous matrixes.

A robust heteronuclear dipolar recoupling method comparable to TEDOR for proteins in magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR

In this letter, we propose a robust heteronuclear dipolar recoupling method for proteins in magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR. This method is as simple, robust and efficient as the well-known TEDOR in the aspect of magnetization transfer between 15N and 13C. Deriving from our recent band-selective dual back-to-back pulses (DBP) (Zhang et al., 2016), this method uses new phase-cycling schemes to realize broadband DBP (Bro-DBP). For broadband 15N-13C magnetization transfer (simultaneous 15N→13C′ and 15N→13Cα), Bro-DBP has almost the same 15N→13Cα efficiency while offers 30–40% enhancement on 15N→13C′ transfer, compared to TEDOR. Besides, Bro-DBP can also be used as a carbonyl (13C′)-selected method, whose 15N→13C′ efficiency is up to 1.7 times that of TEDOR and is also higher than that of band-selective DBP. The performance of Bro-DBP is demonstrated on the N-formyl-[U-13C,15N]-Met-Leu-Phe-OH (fMLF) peptide and the U-13C, 15N labeled β1 immunoglobulin binding domain of protein G (GB1) microcrystalline protein. Since Bro-DBP is as robust, simple and efficient as TEDOR, we believe it is very useful for protein studies in MAS solid-state NMR.

Impact of structural differences in carcinopreventive agents indole-3-carbinol and 3,3′-diindolylmethane on biological activity. An X-ray, 1H–14N NQDR, 13C CP/MAS NMR, and periodic hybrid DFT study

Three experimental techniques 1H–14N NQDR, 13C CP/MAS NMR and X-ray and Density Functional Theory (GGA/BLYP with PBC) and Hirshfeld surfaces were applied for the structure–activity oriented studies of two phyto-antioxidants and anticarcinogens: indole-3-carbinol, I3C, and 3,3′-diindolylmethane, DIM, (its bioactive metabolite). One set of 14N NQR frequencies for DIM (2.310, 2.200 and 0.110MHz at 295K) and I3C (2.315, 1.985 and 0.330MHz at 160K) was recorded. The multiplicity of NQR lines recorded at RT revealed high symmetry (chemical and physical equivalence) of both methyl indazole rings of DIM. Carbonyl 13C CSA tensor components were calculated from the 13C CP/MAS solid state NMR spectrum of I3C recorded under fast and slow spinning. At room temperature the crystal structure of I3C is orthorhombic: space group Pca21, Z=4, a=5.78922(16), b=15.6434(7) and c=8.4405(2)Å. The I3C molecules are aggregated into ribbons stacked along [001]. The oxygen atomsare disorderedbetween the two sites of different occupancy factors. It implies that the crystal is built of about 70% trans and 30% gauche conformers, and apart from the weak OH⋯O hydrogen bonds (O⋯O=3.106Å) the formation of alternative O′H⋯O bonds (O′⋯O=2.785Å) is possible within the 1D ribbons. The adjacent ribbons are further stabilised by O′H⋯O bonds (O′⋯O=2.951Å). The analysis of spectra and intermolecular interactions pattern by experimental techniques was supported by solid (periodic) DFT calculations. The knowledge of the topology and competition of the interactions in crystalline state shed some light on the preferred conformations of CH2OH in I3C and steric hindrance of methyl indole rings in DIM. A comparison of the local environment in gas phase and solid permitted drawing some conclusions on the nature of the interactions required for effective processes of recognition and binding of a given anticarcinogen to the protein or nucleic acid.

Rotational isomerism of some chloroacetamides: Theoretical and experimental studies through calculations, infrared and NMR

The geometries involved in the conformational equilibria of 2,2-dichloro-N-cyclohexyl-N-methyl-acetamide (DCCMA) and 2-chloro-N,N-dicyclohexylacetamide (CDCA) were investigated. Theoretical calculations at the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory showed that gauche forms (ClCCO) are the most stable and the predominant conformers in isolated phase. Both compounds had the conformational behavior in solvents of different polarities estimated from theoretical calculations with the PCM (Polarizable Continuum Model), at the same level of theory, using infrared data from deconvolution of the carbonyl absorption bands and 13C NMR spectra. Their IR spectra showed two carbonyl absorptions and that the conformer with the highest dipole moment had its population increased when the most polar solvents were used, in accordance with the theoretical calculation in solution. 1JCH coupling constants were obtained from their NMR spectra, and revealed that there was population variation of conformers with solvent exchange. Experimental data (NMR and IR) as well as calculations including the solvent effects followed the same trend.

Dynamic nuclear polarization-enhanced 13C NMR spectroscopy of static biological solids

We explore the possibility of using dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) to enhance signals in structural studies of biological solids by solid state NMR without sample spinning. Specifically, we use 2D 13C–13C exchange spectroscopy to probe the peptide backbone torsion angles (ϕ, ψ) in a series of selectively 13C-labeled 40-residue β-amyloid (Aβ1–40) samples, in both fibrillar and non-fibrillar states. Experiments are carried out at 9.39T and 8K, using a static double-resonance NMR probe and low-power microwave irradiation at 264GHz. In frozen solutions of Aβ1–40 fibrils doped with DOTOPA-TEMPO, we observe DNP signal enhancement factors of 16–21. We show that the orientation- and frequency-dependent spin polarization exchange between sequential backbone carbonyl 13C labels can be simulated accurately using a simple expression for the exchange rate, after experimentally determined homogeneous 13C lineshapes are incorporated in the simulations. The experimental 2D 13C–13C exchange spectra place constraints on the ϕ and ψ angles between the two carbonyl labels. Although the data are not sufficient to determine ϕ and ψ uniquely, the data do provide non-trivial constraints that could be included in structure calculations. With DNP at low temperatures, 2D 13C–13C exchange spectra can be obtained from a 3.5mg sample of Aβ1–40 fibrils in 4h or less, despite the broad 13C chemical shift anisotropy line shapes that are observed in static samples.

N -protonated and O -protonated tautomers of 1-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-2-one: observation of individual 13 C-NMR carbonyl peaks and comparisons with protonated tautomers of planar and other distorted lactams

An earlier study fit calculated dynamic 13C-NMR spectra in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) (with added sulfuric acid) to slow exchange between N-protonated and O-protonated tautomers of 1-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-2-one. The present study reports simultaneous observation of both carbonyl 13C peaks in 40% sulfuric acid/60% TFA at −40 °C. This furnishes the only example in which experimental carbonyl 13C chemical shifts may be compared with a neutral lactam (in TFA or CDCl3) with its N-protonated and O-protonated derivatives. The seemingly anomalous upfield chemical shifts (experimental and computational) of the 13C carbonyl peaks in this N-protonated lactam (and other twisted N-protonated lactams) relative to the free bases are compared with data for unstrained protonated lactams and amides. The results are rationalized through conventional resonance structures. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Restraints on backbone conformations in solid state NMR studies of uniformly labeled proteins from quantitative amide 15N–15N and carbonyl 13C–13C dipolar recoupling data

Recent structural studies of uniformly 15N, 13C-labeled proteins by solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) rely principally on two sources of structural restraints: (i) restraints on backbone conformation from isotropic 15N and 13C chemical shifts, based on empirical correlations between chemical shifts and backbone torsion angles; (ii) restraints on inter-residue proximities from qualitative measurements of internuclear dipole–dipole couplings, detected as the presence or absence of inter-residue crosspeaks in multidimensional spectra. We show that site-specific dipole–dipole couplings among 15N-labeled backbone amide sites and among 13C-labeled backbone carbonyl sites can be measured quantitatively in uniformly-labeled proteins, using dipolar recoupling techniques that we call 15N-BARE and 13C-BARE (BAckbone REcoupling), and that the resulting data represent a new source of restraints on backbone conformation. 15N-BARE and 13C-BARE data can be incorporated into structural modeling calculations as potential energy surfaces, which are derived from comparisons between experimental 15N and 13C signal decay curves, extracted from crosspeak intensities in series of two-dimensional spectra, with numerical simulations of the 15N-BARE and 13C-BARE measurements. We demonstrate this approach through experiments on microcrystalline, uniformly 15N, 13C-labeled protein GB1. Results for GB1 show that 15N-BARE and 13C-BARE restraints are complementary to restraints from chemical shifts and inter-residue crosspeaks, improving both the precision and the accuracy of calculated structures.

Tyrosine−Lipid Peroxide Adducts from Radical Termination: Para Coupling and Intramolecular Diels−Alder Cyclization

Free radical co-oxidation of polyunsaturated lipids with tyrosine or phenolic analogues of tyrosine gave rise to lipid peroxide-tyrosine (phenol) adducts in both aqueous micellar and organic solutions. The novel adducts were isolated and characterized by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy as well as by mass spectrometry (MS). The spectral data suggest that the polyunsaturated lipid peroxyl radicals give stable peroxide coupling products exclusively at the para position of the tyrosyl (phenoxy) radicals. These adducts have characteristic (13)C chemical shifts at 185 ppm due to the cross-conjugated carbonyl of the phenol-derived cyclohexadienone. The primary peroxide adducts subsequently undergo intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) cyclization, affording a number of diastereomeric tricyclic adducts that have characteristic carbonyl (13)C chemical shifts at ~198 ppm. All of the NMR HMBC and HSQC correlations support the structure assignments of the primary and Diels-Alder adducts, as does MS collision-induced dissociation data. Kinetic rate constants and activation parameters for the IMDA reaction were determined, and the primary adducts were reduced with cuprous ion to give a phenol-derived 4-hydroxycyclohexa-2,5-dienone. No products from adduction of peroxyls at the phenolic ortho position were found in either the primary or cuprous reduction product mixtures. These studies provide a framework for understanding the nature of lipid-protein adducts formed by peroxyl-tyrosyl radical-radical termination processes. Coupling of lipid peroxyl radicals with tyrosyl radicals leads to cyclohexenone and cyclohexadienone adducts, which are of interest in and of themselves since, as electrophiles, they are likely targets for protein nucleophiles. One consequence of lipid peroxyl reactions with tyrosyls may therefore be protein-protein cross-links via interprotein Michael adducts.

Using the Chemical Shift Anisotropy Tensor of Carbonyl Backbone Nuclei As a Probe of Secondary Structure in Proteins

This study seeks to establish that the chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) tensor of the backbone carbonyl ((13)C') nucleus is a useful indicator of secondary structure elements in proteins. The CSA tensors of protein backbone nuclei in different secondary structures were computed for experimentally determined dihedral angles using ab initio methods and by calculating the CSA tensor for a model peptide over the entire dihedral angle space. It is shown that 2D and 3D cluster plots of CSA tensor parameters for (13)C' nuclei are able to distinguish between different secondary structure elements with little to no overlap. As evidenced by multinuclear 2D plots, the CSA of the (13)C' nucleus when correlated with different CSA parameters of the other backbone nuclei (such as C(alpha) or (1)H(alpha)) is also useful in secondary structure identification. The differentiation of alpha-helix versus beta-sheet motifs (the most populated regions of the Ramachandran map) for experimentally determined values of the carbonyl CSA tensor for proteins ubiquitin and binase (obtained from the literature) agrees well with the quantum chemical predictions.

Precise side-chain conformation analysis of l-phenylalanine in α-helical polypeptide by quantum-chemical calculation and 13C CP-MAS NMR measurement

To clarify the positive role of side-chain conformation in the stability of protein secondary structure (main-chain conformation), we successfully calculated the optimization structure of a well-defined α-helical octadecapeptide composed of l-alanine (Ala) and l-phenylalanine (Phe) residues, H–(Ala) 8–Phe–(Ala) 9–OH, based on the molecular orbital calculation with density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d)). From the total energy and the precise secondary structural parameters such as main-chain dihedral angles and hydrogen-bond parameters of the optimized structure, we confirmed that the conformational stability of an α-helix is affected dominantly by the side-chain conformation ( χ 1) of the Phe residue in this system: model A ( T form: around 180° of χ 1) is most stable in α-helix and model B ( G + form: around −60° of χ 1) is next stable, but model C ( G − form: around 60° of χ 1) is less stable. In addition, we demonstrate that the stable conformation of poly( l-phenylalanine) is an α-helix with the side-chain T form, by comparison of the carbonyl 13C chemical shift measured by 13C CP-MAS NMR and the calculated one.

Determination of Separate Inhibitor and Substrate Binding Sites in the Dehaloperoxidase−Hemoglobin from Amphitrite ornata,

Dehaloperoxidase-hemoglobin (DHP A) is a dual function protein found in the terrebellid polychaete Amphitrite ornata. A. ornata is an annelid, which inhabits estuary mudflats with other polychaetes that secrete a range of toxic brominated phenols. DHP A is capable of binding and oxidatively dehalogenating some of these compounds. DHP A possesses the ability to bind halophenols in a distinct, internal distal binding pocket. Since its discovery, the distal binding pocket has been reported as the sole binding location for halophenols; however, data herein suggest a distinction between inhibitor (monohalogenated phenol) and substrate (trihalogenated phenol) binding locations. Backbone (13)Calpha, (13)Cbeta, carbonyl (13)C, amide (1)H, and amide (15)N resonance assignments have been made, and various halophenols were titrated into the protein. (1)H-(15)N HSQC experiments were collected at stoichiometric intervals during each titration, and binding locations specific for mono- and trihalogenated phenols have been identified. Titration of monohalogenated phenol induced primary changes around the distal binding pocket, while introduction of trihalogenated phenols created alterations of the distal histidine and the local area surrounding W120, a structural region that corresponds to a possible dimer interface region recently observed in X-ray crystal structures of DHP A.

Selective heteronuclear Hartmann–Hahn: A multiple-pulse sequence for selective magnetization transfer in the structural elucidation of “isotagged” oligosaccharides

A new selective heteronuclear Hartmann–Hahn (SHEHAHA) multiple-pulse mixing sequence is proposed for the solution structure elucidation of milligram amounts of peracetylated oligosaccharides in which the acetyl groups are enriched in carbon-13, so-called “isotags”. SHEHAHA accomplishes exclusive in-phase magnetization transfer between the isotag carbonyl 13C and the proximal proton on the sugar ring. Relayed transfer around the sugar rings by proton–proton TOCSY is suppressed, while the heteronuclear transfer from the labeled carbonyl carbon to the proximal ring proton is maintained. The sequence is broadband in the sense that all acetyl groups simultaneously give good signal transfer to their respective nearest proton neighbors. The 1H-detected spectra have decent sensitivity and excellent resolution, giving patterns that unambiguously identify common structural subunits in human glycans. Peracetylated maltitol is shown as a test case of the method. Lineshapes are pure absorption, allowing facile measurement of vicinal proton–proton couplings. Linkage points can be deduced, and the 2D correlation spectra may be useful for more ambitious prediction algorithms and machine identification by a spectral database.

The Functional Curli Amyloid Is Not Based on In-register Parallel β-Sheet Structure

The extracellular curli proteins of Enterobacteriaceae form fibrous structures that are involved in biofilm formation and adhesion to host cells. These curli fibrils are considered a functional amyloid because they are not a consequence of misfolding, but they have many of the properties of protein amyloid. We confirm that fibrils formed by CsgA and CsgB, the primary curli proteins of Escherichia coli, possess many of the hallmarks typical of amyloid. Moreover we demonstrate that curli fibrils possess the cross-beta structure that distinguishes protein amyloid. However, solid state NMR experiments indicate that curli structure is not based on an in-register parallel beta-sheet architecture, which is common to many human disease-associated amyloids and the yeast prion amyloids. Solid state NMR and electron microscopy data are consistent with a beta-helix-like structure but are not sufficient to establish such a structure definitively.

Quantitative Determination of Site-Specific Conformational Distributions in an Unfolded Protein by Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques are used to investigate the structure of the 35-residue villin headpiece subdomain (HP35) in folded, partially denatured, and fully denatured states. Experiments are carried out in frozen glycerol/water solutions, with chemical denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl). Without GdnHCl, two-dimensional solid-state 13C NMR spectra of samples prepared with uniform 13C labeling of selected residues show relatively sharp cross-peaks at chemical shifts that are consistent with the known three-helix bundle structure of folded HP35. At high GdnHCl concentrations, most cross-peaks broaden and shift, qualitatively indicating disruption of the folded structure and development of static conformational disorder in the frozen denatured state. Conformational distributions at one residue in each helical segment are probed quantitatively with three solid-state NMR techniques that provide independent constraints on backbone ϕ and ψ torsion angles in samples with sequential pairs of carbonyl 13C labels. Without GdnHCl, the combined data are well fit by α-helical conformations. At [GdnHCl]=4.5 M, corresponding to the approximate denaturation midpoint, the combined data are well fit by a combination of α-helical and partially extended conformations at each site, but with a site-dependent population ratio. At [GdnHCl]=7.0 M, corresponding to the fully denatured state, the combined data are well fit by a combination of partially extended and polyproline II conformations, again with a site-dependent population ratio. Two entirely different models for conformational distributions lead to nearly the same best-fit distributions, demonstrating the robustness of these conclusions. This work represents the first quantitative investigation of site-specific conformational distributions in partially folded and unfolded states of a protein by solid-state NMR.

Inter- and intramolecular contacts in a membrane protein/surfactant complex observed by heteronuclear dipole-to-dipole cross-relaxation

Heteronuclear dipole-to-dipole cross-relaxation has been applied to exploring intermolecular interactions and intramolecular spatial proximities in a large supramolecular structure comprised of a β-barrel membrane protein, OmpX, in complex with a polymeric surfactant, amphipol A8-35. The experiments, performed in either the laboratory or the rotating frame, reveal the existence of intermolecular contacts between aromatic amino acids and specific groups of the polymer, in addition to intra-protein dipolar interactions, some of them involving carbonyl carbons. This study opens the perspective of collecting by NMR spectroscopy a new kind of through-space structural information involving aromatic and carbonyl 13C atoms of large proteins.