Heating and temperature gradients of lipid bilayer samples induced by RF irradiation in MAS solid‐state NMR experiments

The MAS solid‐state NMR has been a powerful technique for studying membrane proteins within the native‐like lipid bilayer environment. In general, RF irradiation in MAS NMR experiments can heat and potentially destroy expensive membrane protein samples. However, under practical MAS NMR experimental conditions, detailed characterization of RF heating effect of lipid bilayer samples is still lacking. Herein, using ¹H chemical shift of water for temperature calibration, we systematically study the dependence of RF heating on hydration levels and salt concentrations of three lipids in MAS NMR experiments. Under practical ¹H decoupling conditions used in biological MAS NMR experiments, three lipids show different dependence of RF heating on hydration levels as well as salt concentrations, which are closely associated with the properties of lipids. The maximum temperature elevation of about 10 °C is similar for the three lipids containing 200% hydration, which is much lower than that in static solid‐state NMR experiments. The RF heating due to salt is observed to be less than that due to hydration, with a maximum temperature elevation of less than 4 °C in the hydrated samples containing 120 mmol l^?1 of salt. Upon RF irradiation, the temperature gradient across the sample is observed to be greatly increased up to 20 °C, as demonstrated by the remarkable broadening of ¹H signal of water. Based on detailed characterization of RF heating effect, we demonstrate that RF heating and temperature gradient can be significantly reduced by decreasing the hydration levels of lipid bilayer samples from 200% to 30%. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.