NMR

The NMR facility of the new department of Structural Biology occupies ~10,000sq. ft. in the basement of the new BST3 Tower. This is where a complement of high field spectrometers is housed.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a powerful technique that can provide information on molecular structure and dynamics at the atomic level. NMR was originally developed in 1945 by the physicists Bloch and Purcell to investigate nuclear properties. It soon was adopted by chemists as the prime method for analyzing and identifying the structure of molecules. Over the years, ostensibly continuous advancements and a wide array of different applications were developed.

Structural Biologists use solution NMR to determine the three-dimensional structures of large biological macromolecules, such as proteins, DNA, RNA and complexes of these molecules. In addition, solid-state NMR allows ones to probe the structure and motion of membrane proteins.

Traditionally, proton NMR based techniques that exploit the high abundance and sensitivity of the ¹H isotope were used. However, given the large number of hydrogen atoms in macromolecules, ¹H spectra are highly overlapped and assignment is intractable. Fortunately, molecular biology techniques allow the incorporation of ¹³C, ¹⁵N and ²H into biological macromolecules. The combined methodological advances of isotope labeling and multi-dimensional heteronuclear NMR techniques make it now possible to determine atomic-resolution solution structures and motions of biologically important macromolecules. Solid-state NMR methods can be applied to study the structure and dynamics of very large biomolecules such as membrane proteins or polymeric assemblies as found in amyloid fibers.

A unique feature of the NMR Facility is that it comprises instrumentation for multidimensional high resolution solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopies with magnets at several field strengths. There are a total of six spectrometers dedicated to biological NMR. These include three 600 MHz spectrometers, 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz spectrometers. The 89 mm wide-bore 600 MHz spectrometer is available for solid-state NMR studies and the 800 MHz spectrometer is equipped with solids capabilities as well. All spectrometers are fully equipped with hardware for modern state-of-the-art multinuclear experiments including gradient probes and the capability for multi-channel pulsing with deuterium decoupling. Cryoprobes have been installed at every field strength.

The NMR facility manager is Mike Delk. The equipment housed allows various experimental opportunities for the above needs. The six spectrometers are:

1) Bruker-BioSpin Avance 900 MHz NMR Spectrometer

2) Bruker-BioSpin Avance 800 MHz NMR Spectrometer

• 2.2k degree actively shielded 54mm bore super conducting magnets.
• 34 gradient orthogonal shim systems.
• Variable temperature control.
• 5 channel operation.
• Advanced digital receiving / digitizing capabilities.
• Linux based PC control workstation.
• 5mm HCN triple resonance cryoprobe yielding ultra high sensitivity.
• 13C observe capability with increased sensitivity.
• Conventional high resolution probe(s).
• Solids and HRMAS capability (800 MHz).

3) Bruker-BioSpin Avance 700 MHz NMR Spectrometer

4) Bruker-BioSpin Avance 600 MHz NMR Spectrometer #1

5) Bruker-BioSpin Avance 600 MHz NMR Spectrometer #2

• 4.7k degree actively shielded 54mm bore magnets.
• 34 gradient orthogonal shim systems.
• Variable temperature control.
• 5 channel operation.
• Advanced digital receiving / digitizing capabilities.
• Linux based PC control workstation.
• 5mm HCN triple resonance cryoprobe yielding ultra high sensitivity.
• 13C observe capability with increased sensitivity.
• Conventional high resolution probe(s).

6) Bruker-BioSpin Avance 600WB MHz NMR Spectrometer

• 4.7k degree actively shielded 89 mm bore magnet.
• 28 or 34 gradient orthogonal shim system operation.
• Variable temperature control.
• 4 channel operation.
• 5mm HCN triple resonance high resolution probe.
• Solid-State NMR (CPMAS, Static and HRMAS).
• Imaging capabilities at various coil sizes.
• Small animal possibilities.