Two-dimensional Fourier transform ESR in the slow-motional and rigid limits: 2D-ELDOR

Local ordering and dynamics in anisotropic media by magnetic resonance: from liquid crystals to proteins

Magnetic resonance methods have been used extensively for over 50 years to elucidate molecular structure and dynamics of liquid crystals (LCs), providing information quite unique in its rigour and extent. The ESR- or NMR-active probe is often a solute molecule reporting on characteristics associated with the surrounding (LC) medium, which exerts the spatial restrictions on the probe. The theoretical approaches developed for LCs are applicable to anisotropic media in general. Of particular interest is the interior space of a globular protein labelled, e.g. with a nitroxide moiety or a ¹⁵N-¹H bond. The ESR or NMR label plays the role of the probe and the internal protein surroundings the role of the anisotropic medium. A general feature of the restricted motions is the local ordering, i.e. the nature, magnitude and symmetry of the spatial restraints exerted at the site of the moving probe. This property is the main theme of the present review article. We outline its treatment in our work from both the theoretical and the experimental points of view, highlighting the new physical insights gained. Our illustrations include studies on thermotropic (nematic and smectic) and lyotropic liquid crystals formed by phospholipids, in addition to studies of proteins.

Focus: Two-dimensional electron-electron double resonance and molecular motions: The challenge of higher frequencies

The development, applications, and current challenges of the pulsed ESR technique of two-dimensional Electron-Electron Double Resonance (2D ELDOR) are described. This is a three-pulse technique akin to 2D Exchange Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, but involving electron spins, usually in the form of spin-probes or spin-labels. As a result, it required the extension to much higher frequencies, i.e., microwaves, and much faster time scales, with π/2 pulses in the 2-3 ns range. It has proven very useful for studying molecular dynamics in complex fluids, and spectral results can be explained by fitting theoretical models (also described) that provide a detailed analysis of the molecular dynamics and structure. We discuss concepts that also appear in other forms of 2D spectroscopy but emphasize the unique advantages and difficulties that are intrinsic to ESR. Advantages include the ability to tune the resonance frequency, in order to probe different motional ranges, while challenges include the high ratio of the detection dead time vs. the relaxation times. We review several important 2D ELDOR studies of molecular dynamics. (1) The results from a spin probe dissolved in a liquid crystal are followed throughout the isotropic → nematic → liquid-like smectic → solid-like smectic → crystalline phases as the temperature is reduced and are interpreted in terms of the slowly relaxing local structure model. Here, the labeled molecule is undergoing overall motion in the macroscopically aligned sample, as well as responding to local site fluctuations. (2) Several examples involving model phospholipid membranes are provided, including the dynamic structural characterization of the boundary lipid that coats a transmembrane peptide dimer. Additionally, subtle differences can be elicited for the phospholipid membrane phases: liquid disordered, liquid ordered, and gel, and the subtle effects upon the membrane, of antigen cross-linking of receptors on the surface of plasma membrane, vesicles can be observed. These 2D ELDOR experiments are performed as a function of mixing time, Tm, i.e., the time between the second and third π/2 pulses, which provides a third dimension. In fact, a fourth dimension may be added by varying the ESR frequency/magnetic field combination. Therefore, (3) it is shown how continuous-wave multifrequency ESR studies enable the decomposition of complex dynamics of, e.g., proteins by virtue of their respective time scales. These studies motivate our current efforts that are directed to extend 2D ELDOR to higher frequencies, 95 GHz in particular (from 9 and 17 GHz), in order to enable multi-frequency 2D ELDOR. This required the development of quasi-optical methods for performing the mm-wave experiments, which are summarized. We demonstrate state-of-the-art 95 GHz 2D ELDOR spectroscopy through its ability to resolve the two signals from a spin probe dissolved in both the lipid phase and the coexisting aqueous phase. As current 95 GHz experiments are restricted by limited spectral coverage of the π/2 pulse, as well as the very short T2 relaxation times of the electron spins, we discuss how these limitations are being addressed.

2D-ELDOR using full S(c-) fitting and absorption lineshapes

Recent progress in developing 2D-ELDOR (2D electron-electron double resonance) techniques to better capture molecular dynamics in complex fluids, particularly in model and biological membranes, is reported. The new "full S(c-) method", which corrects the spectral analysis for the phase distortion effects present in the experiments, is demonstrated to enhance the sensitivity of 2D-ELDOR in reporting on molecular dynamics in complex membrane environments. That is, instead of performing spectral fitting in the magnitude mode, our new method enables simultaneous fitting of both the real and imaginary components of the S(c-) signal. The full S(c-) fitting not only corrects the phase distortions in the experimental data but also more accurately determines instrumental dead times. The phase corrections applied to the S(c-) spectrum enable the extraction of the pure absorption-mode spectrum, which is characterized by much better resolution than the magnitude-mode spectrum. In the absorption mode, the variation of homogeneous broadening, which reports on the dynamics of the spin probe, can even be observed by visual inspection. This new method is illustrated with results from model membranes of dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC)-cholesterol binary mixtures, as well as with results from plasma membrane vesicles of mast cells. In addition to the dynamic parameters, which provide quantitative descriptions for membranes at the molecular level, the high-resolution absorption spectra themselves may be used as a "fingerprint" to characterize membrane phases and distinguish coexisting components in biomembranes. Thus we find that 2D-ELDOR is greatly improved with the new "full S(c-) method" especially for exploring the complexity of model and biological membranes.

Lipid-gramicidin interactions: dynamic structure of the boundary lipid by 2D-ELDOR

The use of 2D-electron-electron double resonance (2D-ELDOR) for the characterization of the boundary lipid in membrane vesicles of DPPC and gramicidin A' (GA) is reported. We show that 2D-ELDOR, with its enhanced spectral resolution to dynamic structure as compared with continuous-wave electron spin resonance, provides a reliable and useful way of studying lipid-protein interactions. The 2D-ELDOR spectra of the end-chain spin label 16-PC in DPPC/GA vesicles is composed of two components, which are assigned to the bulk lipids (with sharp auto peaks and crosspeaks) and to the boundary lipids (with broad auto peaks). Their distinction is clearest for higher temperatures and higher GA concentrations. The quantitative analysis of these spectra shows relatively faster motions and very low ordering for the end chain of the bulk lipids, whereas the boundary lipids show very high "y-ordering" and slower motions. The y-ordering represents a dynamic bending at the end of the boundary lipid acyl chain, which can then coat the GA molecules. These results are consistent with the previous studies by Ge and Freed (1999) using continuous-wave electron spin resonance, thereby supporting their model for GA aggregation and H(II) phase formation for high GA concentrations. Improved instrumental and simulation methods have been employed.

A 2D-ELDOR study of the liquid ordered phase in multilamellar vesicle membranes

2D-ELDOR spectroscopy has been employed to study the dynamic structure of the liquid-ordered (Lo) phase versus that of the liquid-crystalline (Lc) phase in multibilayer phospholipid vesicles without (Lc) and with (Lo) cholesterol, using end-chain and headgroup labels and spin-labeled cholestane. The spectra are in most cases found to be dramatically different for these two phases. Thus, visual inspection of the 2D-ELDOR spectra provides a convenient way to distinguish the two phases in membranes. Detailed analysis shows these observations are due to increased ordering in the Lo phase and modified reorientation rates. In the Lo phase, acyl chains undergo a faster rotational diffusion and higher ordering than in the Lc phase, whereas spin-labeled cholestane exhibits slower rotational diffusion and higher ordering. On the other hand, the choline headgroup in the Lo phase exhibits faster motion and reduced but realigned ordering versus the Lc phase. The microscopic translational diffusion rates in the Lo phase are significantly reduced in the presence of cholesterol. These results are compared with previous studies, and a consistent model is provided for interpreting them in terms of the differences in the dynamic structure of the Lo and Lc phases.

New technologies in electron spin resonance

New electron spin resonance (ESR) technologies have been developed, which have led to new and improved applications. (a) The development of two-dimensional Fourier transform (FT) ESR required spectrometers providing intense pi/2 microwave pulses of very short (3-5 ns) duration, wide bandwidths, and very short dead times. It has enabled studies that resolve sophisticated details of molecular dynamics in complex fluids. (b) Methods that produce multiple quantum coherences by pulsed ESR now enable accurate measurements of large distances (>12A). (c) One of the most important advances has been the extension of ESR to high magnetic fields and high frequencies. This has benefited from the utilization of quasi-optical methods, especially above 150 GHz. The greatly improved orientational resolution and the faster "snapshot" of motions that are provided by ESR at high frequencies enhance studies of molecular dynamics. The use of both high and lower frequencies enables one to unravel faster and slower modes from the complex dynamics of fluids and macromolecules. (d) The development of FT-ESR imaging required substantial pulsed field gradients lasting only 50-100 ns. ESR imaging is effective in studying diffusion in fluids. Areas for further development are also described.

On the use of the phase memory time T2 for the quantitative characterization of the rotational motions of proteins in lipid bilayer systems

Numerical simulations of the echo responses from a nitroxide label rigidly attached to a large protein undergoing ultraslow rotational motions in a lipid bilayer are presented. The echoes are formed by the application of Hahn, COSY, and 2D-ELDOR sequences utilizing both soft and hard microwave pulses. The simulations address the question of whether the echo responses elicited by these sequences are affected by restricted angular excursions of the long axis of the protein relative to the normal to the bilayer plane. The results indicate that all three pulse sequences yield the same quantitative motional information regardless of the nature of the microwave pulses and there is no theoretical reason for preferring one sequence above the others.

Multifrequency two-dimensional Fourier transform ESR: an X/Ku-band spectrometer

A two-dimensional Fourier Transform ESR (2D FT ESR) spectrometer operating at 9.25 and 17.35 GHz is described. The Ku-band bridge uses an efficient heterodyne technique wherein 9.25 GHz is the intermediate frequency. At Ku-band the sensitivity is increased by almost an order of magnitude. One may routinely collect a full 2D ELDOR spectrum in less than 20 min for a sample containing 0.5-5 nmol of nitroxide spin-probe in the slow-motional regime. Broad spectral coverage at Ku-band is obtained by use of a bridged loop-gap resonator (BLGR) and of a dielectric ring resonator (DR). It is shown that an even more uniform spectral excitation is obtained by using shorter microwave pulses of about 3 ns duration. The dead-time at Ku-band is just 30-40 ns, yielding an improved SNR in 2D ELDOR spectra of nitroxide spin-probes with T2 as short as 20-30 ns. A comparison of 2D ELDOR spectra obtained at 9.25 and 17. 35 GHz for spin-labeled phospholipid probes (16PC) in 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DMPG) membrane vesicles showed that both spectra could be satisfactorily simulated using the same set of model parameters even though they are markedly different in appearance. The improved sensitivity and shorter dead-time at Ku-band made it possible to obtain orientation-dependent 2D ELDOR spectra of the Cholestane (CSL) spin-probe in macroscopically aligned lipid bilayers of egg yolk PC using samples containing only 1 mg of lipid and just 5 nmol of spin-probe.

Selective placement of electron spin resonance spin labels: new structural methods for peptides and proteins

Electron spin resonance (ESR) is more powerful than ever as a technique for solving biochemical and biophysical problems. Part of the great utility of ESR arises from the use of modern biochemical methods to place spin labels at important positions along the primary sequence of a peptide or protein.