Measurement of storage time, estimation of ion number and study of absorption line profile in a Paul trap

Europium (Eu⁺) ions were confined in a Paul trap and detected by non-destructive method. Storage time of Eu⁺ ions achieved in vacuum was improved by orders of magnitude employing buffer gas cooling. The experimentally detected signal was fitted to the ion response signal and the total number of ions trapped was estimated. It is found that the peak signal amplitude as well as the product of FWHM and the peak signal amplitude is proportional to the total number of trapped ions. The trapped ion secular frequency was swept at different rates and its effect on the absorption line profile was studied both experimentally and theoretically.     

Substrate affinities for membrane transport proteins determined by 13C cross-polarization magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

We have devised methods in which cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CP-MAS) solid-state NMR is exploited to measure rigorous parameters for binding of (13)C-labeled substrates to membrane transport proteins. The methods were applied to two proteins from Escherichia coli: a nucleoside transporter, NupC, and a glucuronide transporter, GusB. A substantial signal for the binding of methyl [1-(13)C]-beta-d-glucuronide to GusB overexpressed in native membranes was achieved with a sample that contained as little as 20 nmol of GusB protein. The data were fitted to yield a K(D) value of 4.17 mM for the labeled ligand and 0.42 mM for an unlabeled ligand, p-nitrophenyl beta-d-glucuronide, which displaced the labeled compound. CP-MAS was also used to measure binding of [1'-(13)C]uridine to overexpressed NupC. The spectrum of NupC-enriched membranes containing [1'-(13)C]uridine exhibited a large peak from substrate bound to undefined sites other than the transport site, which obscured the signal from substrate bound to NupC. In a novel application of a cross-polarization/polarization-inversion (CPPI) NMR experiment, the signal from undefined binding was eliminated by use of appropriate inversion pulse lengths. By use of CPPI in a titration experiment, a K(D) value of 2.6 mM was determined for uridine bound to NupC. These approaches are broadly applicable to quantifying binding of substrates, inhibitors, drugs, and antibiotics to numerous membrane proteins.     

Correction: Dermatan sulfate in tunicate phylogeny: Order-specific sulfation pattern and the effect of [→4IdoA(2-Sulfate)β-1→3GalNAc(4-Sulfate)β-1→] motifs in dermatan sulfate on heparin cofactor II activity

After the publication of the work entitled "Dermatan sulfate in tunicate phylogeny: Order-specific sulfation pattern and the effect of [→4IdoA(2-Sulfate)β-1→3GalNAc(4-Sulfate)β-1→] motifs in dermatan sulfate on heparin cofactor II activity", by Kozlowski et al., BMC Biochemistry 2011, 12:29, we found that the legends to Figures 2 to 5 contain serious mistakes that compromise the comprehension of the work. This correction article contains the correct text of the legends to Figures 2 to 5.     

Structural analysis of uniformly C-labelled solids from selective angle measurements at rotational resonance

We demonstrate that individual H–C–C–H torsional angles in uniformly labelled organic solids can be estimated by selective excitation of ¹³C double-quantum coherences under magic-angle spinning at rotational resonance. By adapting a straightforward one-dimensional experiment described earlier [T. Karlsson, M. Eden, H. Luhman, M.H. Levitt, J. Magn. Reson. 145 (2000) 95–107], a double-quantum filtered spectrum selective for Cα and Cβ of uniformly labelled l-[¹³C,¹⁵N]valine is obtained with 25% efficiency. The evolution of Cα–Cβ double-quantum coherence under the influence of the dipolar fields of bonded protons is monitored to provide a value of the Hα–Cα–Cβ–Hβ torsional angle that is consistent with the crystal structure. In addition, double-quantum filtration selective for C6 and C1′ of uniformly labelled [¹³C,¹⁵N]uridine is achieved with 12% efficiency for a ¹³C–¹³C distance of 2.5 Å, yielding a reliable estimate of the C6–H and C1′–H projection angle defining the relative orientations of the nucleoside pyrimidine and ribose rings. This procedure will be useful, in favourable cases, for structural analysis of fully labelled small molecules such as receptor ligands that are not readily synthesised with labels placed selectively at structurally diagnostic sites.     

Low 13C-background for NMR-based studies of ligand binding using 13C-depleted glucose as carbon source for microbial growth: 13C-labeled glucose and 13C-forskolin binding to the galactose-H+ symport protein GalP in Escherichia coli

Obtrusive 13C-backgrounds can be a problem in 13C NMR-based studies of ligand binding to bacterial membrane transport proteins in their natural state in inner membranes. This is largely solved for the bacterial galactose-H+ symport protein GalP by growing the producing organism Escherichia coli on 13C-depleted glucose (13C 相似文献   

The economical synthesis of [2'-(13)C, 1,3-(15)N2]uridine; preliminary conformational studies by solid state NMR

The synthesis of [2'-(13)C, 1,3-(15)N2]uridine 11 was achieved as follows. An epimeric mixture of D-[1-(13)C]ribose 3 and D-[1-(13)C]arabinose 4 was obtained in excellent yield by condensation of K13CN with D-erythrose 2 using a modification of the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis. Efficient separation of the two aldose epimers was pivotally achieved by a novel ion-exchange (Sm3+) chromatography method. D-[2-(13)C]Ribose 5 was obtained from D-[1-(13)C]arabinose 4 using a Ni(II) diamine complex (nickel chloride plus TEMED). Combination of these procedures in a general cycling manner can lead to the very efficient preparation of specifically labelled 13C-monosaccharides of particular chirality. 15N-labelling was introduced in the preparation of [2'-(13)C, 1,3-(15)N2]uridine 11 via [15N2]urea. Cross polarisation magic angle spinning (CP-MAS) solid-state NMR experiments using rotational echo double resonance (REDOR) were carried out on crystals of the labelled uridine to show that the inter-atomic distance between C-2' and N-1 is closely similar to that calculated from X-ray crystallographic data. The REDOR method will be used now to determine the conformation of bound substrates in the bacterial nucleoside transporters NupC and NupG.     

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy detects interactions between tryptophan residues of the E. coli sugar transporter GalP and the alpha-anomer of the D-glucose substrate

An experimental approach is described in which high resolution 13C solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy has been used to detect interactions between specific residues of membrane-embedded transport proteins and weakly binding noncovalent ligands. This procedure has provided insight into the binding site for the substrate D-glucose in the Escherichia coli sugar transport protein GalP. Cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CP-MAS) SSNMR spectra of GalP in its natural membrane at 4 degrees C indicated that the alpha- and beta-anomers of D-[1-(13)C]glucose were bound by GalP with equal affinity and underwent fast exchange between the free and bound environments. Further experiments confirmed that by lowering the measurement temperature to -10 degrees C, peaks could be detected selectively from the substrate when restrained within the binding site. Dipolar-assisted rotational resonance (DARR) SSNMR experiments at -10 degrees C showed a selective interaction between the alpha-anomer of D-[1-(13)C]glucose and 13C-labels within [13C]tryptophan-labeled GalP, which places the carbon atom at C-1 in the alpha-anomer of D-glucose to within 6 A of the carbonyl carbon of one or more tryptophan residues in the protein. No interaction was detected for the beta-isomer. The role of tryptophan residues in substrate binding was investigated further in CP-MAS experiments to detect D-[1-(13)C]glucose binding to the GalP mutants W371F and W395F before and after the addition of the inhibitor forskolin. The results suggest that both mutants bind D-glucose with similar affinities, but have different affinities for forskolin. This work highlights a useful general experimental strategy for probing the binding sites of membrane proteins, using methodology which overcomes the problems associated with the unfavorable dynamics of weak ligands.