The application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to the study of natural and model membranes

In-cell NMR: Why and how?

NMR spectroscopy has been applied to cells and tissues analysis since its beginnings, as early as 1950. We have attempted to gather here in a didactic fashion the broad diversity of data and ideas that emerged from NMR investigations on living cells. Covering a large proportion of the periodic table, NMR spectroscopy permits scrutiny of a great variety of atomic nuclei in all living organisms non-invasively. It has thus provided quantitative information on cellular atoms and their chemical environment, dynamics, or interactions. We will show that NMR studies have generated valuable knowledge on a vast array of cellular molecules and events, from water, salts, metabolites, cell walls, proteins, nucleic acids, drugs and drug targets, to pH, redox equilibria and chemical reactions. The characterization of such a multitude of objects at the atomic scale has thus shaped our mental representation of cellular life at multiple levels, together with major techniques like mass-spectrometry or microscopies. NMR studies on cells has accompanied the developments of MRI and metabolomics, and various subfields have flourished, coined with appealing names: fluxomics, foodomics, MRI and MRS (i.e. imaging and localized spectroscopy of living tissues, respectively), whole-cell NMR, on-cell ligand-based NMR, systems NMR, cellular structural biology, in-cell NMR… All these have not grown separately, but rather by reinforcing each other like a braided trunk. Hence, we try here to provide an analytical account of a large ensemble of intricately linked approaches, whose integration has been and will be key to their success. We present extensive overviews, firstly on the various types of information provided by NMR in a cellular environment (the "why", oriented towards a broad readership), and secondly on the employed NMR techniques and setups (the "how", where we discuss the past, current and future methods). Each subsection is constructed as a historical anthology, showing how the intrinsic properties of NMR spectroscopy and its developments structured the accessible knowledge on cellular phenomena. Using this systematic approach, we sought i) to make this review accessible to the broadest audience and ii) to highlight some early techniques that may find renewed interest. Finally, we present a brief discussion on what may be potential and desirable developments in the context of integrative studies in biology.

Effect of Added Salts or Polyols on the Cloud Point and the Liquid-Crystalline Structures of Polyoxyethylene-Modified Silicone

The effect of added salts (NaCl, Na(2)SO(4), and NaSCN) or polyols (glycerin (Gly), 1,3-butanediol (1,3-BD), ethylene glycol (EG), and polyethylene glycol (PEG400)) on the hexagonal liquid-crystalline structure of polyoxyethylene-modified silicone was investigated by means of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The effective cross-sectional area of the lipophilic part of the aggregate, a(s), in the hexagonal phase decreases upon the addition of salts, on one hand, lowering the cloud point in the dilute aqueous siloxane surfactant solutions. On the other hand, if added salt raises the cloud point, the a(s) increases. Similar results were obtained in the case of the addition of polyols. Since the a(s) mainly depends on the EO chain length, the above results are direct evidence that the hydration or dehydration of the EO chain is affected by these additives. The static fluorescence probe method was applied to the Gly and 1,3-BD systems using 8-anilino-1-naphthalene-sulfonic acid, ANS, to know the change in hydration of the EO chains. In the Gly system, the hydration of the EO chain monotonically decreases whereas 1,3-BD first increases the hydration and then decreases it at high 1,3-BD content. These results are very consistent with the SAXS and cloud temperature results. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Nanosecond dynamics of charged fluorescent probes at the polar interface of a membrane phospholipid bilayer

Molecular relaxation fluorescence methods were applied to analyze the nature and characteristic times of motions of amphiphilic molecules absorbed in the polar region of a phospholipid bilayer. The fluorescence probes 2-toluidinonaphthalene-6-sulfonate and 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate in egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles were studied. The methods of edge excitation fluorescence red shifts, nanosecond time-resolved spectroscopy, fluorescence quenching by hydrophilic and hydrophobic quenchers and emission wavelength dependence of polarization were used. The structural (dipolar) relaxation is shown to be a very rapid (subnanosecond) process. The observed nanosecond phenomena are related to translational movement of the chromophore itself towards a more polar environment and its rotation. The polar surface area of the phospholipid membrane appears to be a highly mobile liquid-like system.