1
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Heidinger L, Perez K, Spatzal T, Einsle O, Weber S, Rees DC, Schleicher E. Analysis of early intermediate states of the nitrogenase reaction by regularization of EPR spectra. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4041. [PMID: 38740794 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48271-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Due to the complexity of the catalytic FeMo cofactor site in nitrogenases that mediates the reduction of molecular nitrogen to ammonium, mechanistic details of this reaction remain under debate. In this study, selenium- and sulfur-incorporated FeMo cofactors of the catalytic MoFe protein component from Azotobacter vinelandii are prepared under turnover conditions and investigated by using different EPR methods. Complex signal patterns are observed in the continuous wave EPR spectra of selenium-incorporated samples, which are analyzed by Tikhonov regularization, a method that has not yet been applied to high spin systems of transition metal cofactors, and by an already established grid-of-error approach. Both methods yield similar probability distributions that reveal the presence of at least four other species with different electronic structures in addition to the ground state E0. Two of these species were preliminary assigned to hydrogenated E2 states. In addition, advanced pulsed-EPR experiments are utilized to verify the incorporation of sulfur and selenium into the FeMo cofactor, and to assign hyperfine couplings of 33S and 77Se that directly couple to the FeMo cluster. With this analysis, we report selenium incorporation under turnover conditions as a straightforward approach to stabilize and analyze early intermediate states of the FeMo cofactor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenz Heidinger
- Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Institut für Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Kathryn Perez
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Thomas Spatzal
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Oliver Einsle
- Institut für Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Weber
- Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Douglas C Rees
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pasadena, CA, USA.
| | - Erik Schleicher
- Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
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2
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Perras FA, Culver DB. On the use of NMR distance measurements for assessing surface site homogeneity. Dalton Trans 2023. [PMID: 38015038 DOI: 10.1039/d3dt03201a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
The past few decades have seen tremendous growth in the area of single-site heterogeneous catalysis, which aims to combine the best aspects of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, namely molecular-level site control and ease of separation/recycling. Despite this, we still do not have a means of assessing site homogeneity and whether the produced catalyst is indeed a "single-site". Recent developments have enabled the use of NMR-based distance measurements to determine the conformations and configurations of surface sites, leading to the question whether such measurements can be used to distinguish materials containing either single or multiple surface sites with otherwise indistinguishable NMR properties. We describe a Monte Carlo-based multi-structure search algorithm and its application to the determination of multi-site structures from supported metal complexes. The sensitivity of REDOR data to the existence of multiple sites is assessed using synthetic data and prior literature examples are revisited to determine whether the single-site approximation was indeed appropriate. We lastly apply this new methodology to differentiate the configurations of zirconocene complexes grafted onto alumina supports that were thermally treated at different temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frédéric A Perras
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
- Chemical and Biological Sciences, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, IA 50011, USA
| | - Damien B Culver
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
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3
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Fábregas-Ibáñez L, Jeschke G, Stoll S. Compactness regularization in the analysis of dipolar EPR spectroscopy data. JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2022; 339:107218. [PMID: 35439683 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2022.107218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Dipolar electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments, such as double electron-electron resonance (DEER), measure distributions of nanometer-scale distances between paramagnetic centers, which are valuable for structural characterization of proteins and other macromolecular systems. One challenge in the least-squares fitting analysis of dipolar EPR data is the separation of the inter-molecular contribution (background) and the intra-molecular contribution. For noisy experimental traces of insufficient length, this separation is not unique, leading to identifiability problems for the background model parameters and the long-distance region of the intra-molecular distance distribution. Here, we introduce a regularization approach that mitigates this by including an additional penalty term in the objective function that is proportional to the variance of the distance distribution and thereby penalizes non-compact distributions. We examine the reliability of this approach statistically on a large set of synthetic data and illustrate it with an experimental example. The results show that the introduction of compactness can improve identifiability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Fábregas-Ibáñez
- ETH Zurich, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, Zurich 8093, Switzerland.
| | - Gunnar Jeschke
- ETH Zurich, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, Zurich 8093, Switzerland
| | - Stefan Stoll
- University of Washington, Department of Chemistry, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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4
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Hustedt EJ, Stein RA, Mchaourab HS. Protein functional dynamics from the rigorous global analysis of DEER data: Conditions, components, and conformations. J Gen Physiol 2021; 153:212643. [PMID: 34529007 PMCID: PMC8449309 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.201711954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The potential of spin labeling to reveal the dynamic dimension of macromolecules has been recognized since the dawn of the methodology in the 1960s. However, it was the development of pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to detect dipolar coupling between spin labels and the availability of turnkey instrumentation in the 21st century that realized the full promise of spin labeling. Double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy has seen widespread applications to channels, transporters, and receptors. In these studies, distance distributions between pairs of spin labels obtained under different biochemical conditions report the conformational states of macromolecules, illuminating the key movements underlying biological function. These experimental studies have spurred the development of methods for the rigorous analysis of DEER spectroscopic data along with methods for integrating these distributions into structural models. In this tutorial, we describe a model-based approach to obtaining a minimum set of components of the distance distribution that correspond to functionally relevant protein conformations with a set of fractional amplitudes that define the equilibrium between these conformations. Importantly, we review and elaborate on the error analysis reflecting the uncertainty in the various parameters, a critical step in rigorous structural interpretation of the spectroscopic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric J Hustedt
- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
| | - Richard A Stein
- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
| | - Hassane S Mchaourab
- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
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5
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Matveeva AG, Syryamina VN, Nekrasov VM, Bowman MK. Non-uniform sampling in pulse dipolar spectroscopy by EPR: the redistribution of noise and the optimization of data acquisition. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:10335-10346. [PMID: 33881433 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp00705j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Pulse dipolar spectroscopy (PDS) in Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) is the method of choice for determining the distance distribution function for mono-, bi- or multi- spin-labeled macromolecules and nanostructures. PDS acquisition schemes conventionally use uniform sampling of the dipolar trace, but non-uniform sampling (NUS) schemes can decrease the total measurement time or increase the accuracy of the resulting distance distributions. NUS requires optimization of the data acquisition scheme, as well as changes in data processing algorithms to accommodate the non-uniformly sampled data. We investigate in silico the applicability of the NUS approach in PDS, considering its effect on random, truncation and sampling noise in the experimental data. Each type of noise in the time-domain data propagates differently and non-uniformly into the distance spectrum as errors in the distance distribution. NUS schemes seem to be a valid approach for increasing sensitivity and/or throughput in PDS by decreasing and redistributing noise in the distance spectrum so that it has less impact on the distance spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna G Matveeva
- Institute of Solid State Chemistry and Mechanochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia and Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Victoria N Syryamina
- Voevodsky Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Vyacheslav M Nekrasov
- Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia and Voevodsky Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Michael K Bowman
- N. N. Vorozhtsov Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA.
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6
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Tkach I, Diederichsen U, Bennati M. Studies of transmembrane peptides by pulse dipolar spectroscopy with semi-rigid TOPP spin labels. EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL : EBJ 2021; 50:143-157. [PMID: 33640998 PMCID: PMC8071797 DOI: 10.1007/s00249-021-01508-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)-based pulsed dipolar spectroscopy measures the dipolar interaction between paramagnetic centers that are separated by distances in the range of about 1.5-10 nm. Its application to transmembrane (TM) peptides in combination with modern spin labelling techniques provides a valuable tool to study peptide-to-lipid interactions at a molecular level, which permits access to key parameters characterizing the structural adaptation of model peptides incorporated in natural membranes. In this mini-review, we summarize our approach for distance and orientation measurements in lipid environment using novel semi-rigid TOPP [4-(3,3,5,5-tetramethyl-2,6-dioxo-4-oxylpiperazin-1-yl)-L-phenylglycine] labels specifically designed for incorporation in TM peptides. TOPP labels can report single peak distance distributions with sub-angstrom resolution, thus offering new capabilities for a variety of TM peptide investigations, such as monitoring of various helix conformations or measuring of tilt angles in membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Tkach
- Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, RG Electron-Spin Resonance Spectroscopy, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Ulf Diederichsen
- Department of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Marina Bennati
- Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, RG Electron-Spin Resonance Spectroscopy, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
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7
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Miao Q, Zurlo E, de Bruin D, Wondergem JAJ, Timmer M, Blok A, Heinrich D, Overhand M, Huber M, Ubbink M. A Two-Armed Probe for In-Cell DEER Measurements on Proteins*. Chemistry 2020; 26:17128-17133. [PMID: 33200852 PMCID: PMC7839491 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202002743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2020] [Revised: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The application of double electron‐electron resonance (DEER) with site‐directed spin labeling (SDSL) to measure distances in proteins and protein complexes in living cells puts rigorous restraints on the spin‐label. The linkage and paramagnetic centers need to resist the reducing conditions of the cell. Rigid attachment of the probe to the protein improves precision of the measured distances. Here, three two‐armed GdIII complexes, GdIII‐CLaNP13a/b/c were synthesized. Rather than the disulfide linkage of most other CLaNP molecules, a thioether linkage was used to avoid reductive dissociation of the linker. The doubly GdIII labeled N55C/V57C/K147C/T151C variants of T4Lysozyme were measured by 95 GHz DEER. The constructs were measured in vitro, in cell lysate and in Dictyostelium discoideum cells. Measured distances were 4.5 nm, consistent with results from paramagnetic NMR. A narrow distance distribution and typical modulation depth, also in cell, indicate complete and durable labeling and probe rigidity due to the dual attachment sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Miao
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333, CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Enrico Zurlo
- Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO box 9504, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Donny de Bruin
- Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO box 9504, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Joeri A J Wondergem
- Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO box 9504, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Monika Timmer
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333, CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Anneloes Blok
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333, CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Doris Heinrich
- Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO box 9504, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, 97082, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Mark Overhand
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333, CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Martina Huber
- Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO box 9504, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Marcellus Ubbink
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333, CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
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8
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Fábregas Ibáñez L, Jeschke G, Stoll S. DeerLab: a comprehensive software package for analyzing dipolar electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy data. MAGNETIC RESONANCE (GOTTINGEN, GERMANY) 2020; 1:209-224. [PMID: 34568875 PMCID: PMC8462493 DOI: 10.5194/mr-1-209-2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Dipolar EPR spectroscopy (DEER and other techniques) enables the structural characterization of macromolecular and biological systems by measurement of distance distributions between unpaired electrons on a nanometer scale. The inference of these distributions from the measured signals is challenging due to the ill-posed nature of the inverse problem. Existing analysis tools are scattered over several applications with specialized graphical user interfaces. This renders comparison, reproducibility, and method development difficult. To remedy this situation, we present DeerLab, an open-source software package for analyzing dipolar EPR data that is modular and implements a wide range of methods. We show that DeerLab can perform one-step analysis based on separable non-linear least squares, fit dipolar multi-pathway models to multi-pulse DEER data, run global analysis with non-parametric distributions, and use a bootstrapping approach to fully quantify the uncertainty in the analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Fábregas Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gunnar Jeschke
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stefan Stoll
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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9
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EPR of site-directed spin-labeled proteins: A powerful tool to study structural flexibility. Arch Biochem Biophys 2020; 684:108323. [DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2020.108323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2019] [Revised: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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10
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Fábregas Ibáñez L, Jeschke G. Optimal background treatment in dipolar spectroscopy. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:1855-1868. [PMID: 31903461 DOI: 10.1039/c9cp06111h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Treatment of the background in dipolar EPR spectroscopy signals is a critical processing step for the recovery of the underlying distance distributions. Here we present new mathematical considerations that show pitfalls of background subtraction and division. In order to overcome these problems we propose an improved background treatment approach. We show, empirically, that this new method outperforms the established ones and analyze the established practice of post-correction signal truncation, as well as the influence of moderate background-fit errors, on accuracy of distance distributions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gunnar Jeschke
- ETH Zurich, Lab. Phys. Chem., Vladimir-Prelog Weg 2, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
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11
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Goldfarb D. Pulse EPR in biological systems - Beyond the expert's courtyard. JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2019; 306:102-108. [PMID: 31337564 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2019.07.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Application of EPR to biological systems includes many techniques and applications. In this short perspective, which dares to look into the future, I focus on pulse EPR, which is my field of expertise. Generally, pulse EPR techniques can be divided into two main groups: (1) hyperfine spectroscopy, which explores electron-nuclear interactions, and (2) pulse-dipolar (PD) EPR spectroscopy, which is based on electron-electron spin interactions. Here I focus on PD-EPR because it has a better chance of becoming a widely applied, easy-to-use table-top method to study the structural and dynamic aspects of bio-molecules. I will briefly introduce this technique, its current state of the art, the challenges it is facing, and finally I will describe futuristic scenarios of low-cost PD-EPR approaches that can cross the diffusion barrier from the core of experts to the bulk of the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniella Goldfarb
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
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12
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Jeschke G. Quo vadis EPR? JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2019; 306:36-41. [PMID: 31345773 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2019.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Revised: 03/21/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Complexity of paramagnetic catalysts and materials increases, and the same applies to systems targeted by integrative structural biology. Hence, EPR spectroscopists must find ways to enhance information content of their data. I argue that a third major wave of method development in EPR spectroscopy, which is triggered by recent advances in digital electronics and computing, can achieve this. Transfer of NMR methods to EPR will go on, but part of the new EPR methodology will depend on completely new concepts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gunnar Jeschke
- ETH Zurich, Lab. Phys. Chem., Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
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13
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Lai Y, Kuo Y, Chiang Y. Identifying Protein Conformational Dynamics Using Spin‐label ESR. Chem Asian J 2019; 14:3981-3991. [DOI: 10.1002/asia.201900855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yei‐Chen Lai
- Department of Chemistry National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu 30013 Taiwan
- Department of Chemistry&Biochemistry University of California Santa Barbara CA 93106-9510 USA
| | - Yun‐Hsuan Kuo
- Department of Chemistry National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu 30013 Taiwan
| | - Yun‐Wei Chiang
- Department of Chemistry National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu 30013 Taiwan
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14
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Dalaloyan A, Martorana A, Barak Y, Gataulin D, Reuveny E, Howe A, Elbaum M, Albeck S, Unger T, Frydman V, Abdelkader EH, Otting G, Goldfarb D. Tracking Conformational Changes in Calmodulin in vitro, in Cell Extract, and in Cells by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Distance Measurements. Chemphyschem 2019; 20:1860-1868. [PMID: 31054266 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201900341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
It is an open question whether the conformations of proteins sampled in dilute solutions are the same as in the cellular environment. Here we address this question by double electron-electron resonance (DEER) distance measurements with Gd(III) spin labels to probe the conformations of calmodulin (CaM) in vitro, in cell extract, and in human HeLa cells. Using the CaM mutants N53C/T110C and T34C/T117C labeled with maleimide-DOTA-Gd(III) in the N- and C-terminal domains, we observed broad and varied interdomain distance distributions. The in vitro distance distributions of apo-CaM and holo-CaM in the presence and absence of the IQ target peptide can be described by combinations of closed, open, and collapsed conformations. In cell extract, apo- and holo-CaM bind to target proteins in a similar way as apo- and holo-CaM bind to IQ peptide in vitro. In HeLa cells, however, in the presence or absence of elevated in-cell Ca2+ levels CaM unexpectedly produced more open conformations and very broad distance distributions indicative of many different interactions with in-cell components. These results show-case the importance of in-cell analyses of protein structures.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Andrew Howe
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics
| | | | - Shira Albeck
- Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Tamar Unger
- Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Elwy H Abdelkader
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Gottfried Otting
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
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