Application

MAS-DNP applied to biomolecules and bio-materials at natural isotopic abundance 

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) has been extensively used to characterize molecular structures at atomic scales. Concerning biomolecular applications, structural studies are commonly performed on 13C and/or 15N enriched samples in order to compensate for their low natural abundance (1.11 % for 13C and 0.37 % for 15N). However, this strategy is mainly restricted to biomolecules that can be easily isotopically enriched and has proven difficult to expand to other types of bio-materials. One main direction of ours is to demonstrate that MAS-DNP can provide sufficient sensitivity for experiments so that supramolecular structures can be elucidated without requiring isotopic labeling of the samples.

Related contributions (see list of publications):

1- First demonstration that spatial 13C-13C proximities can be probed at natural isotopic abundance in the solid-state using DNP-enhanced NMR. See ref. 1

2- Towards Structure Determination of Self-Assembled Peptides using Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Enhanced Solid-State NMR. See ref. 7

3- Probing protein microcrystals at natural isotopic abundance using MF-DNP. See ref. 10

4- Complete 13C/15N assignment of organic molecules at natural isotopic abundance using DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR. See ref. 21

 

MAS-DNP applied to materials and surface studies:


Another part of our research activity has been dedicated to the study of complex systems that cannot be tackled fully by other atomic level characterization techniques. Notably, we have investigated the structure of various types of materials (from catalytic surfaces to functionalized silica nanoparticles and bacterial cell walls) and thanks to the sensitivity afforded by MAS-DNP, we were able to report new types of NMR experiments and to gain significant insight into the materials’ structures.

 


Related contributions (see list of publications):

1- Application of DNP-enhanced NMR to the study of catalytic surfaces. See ref. 3, 14

2- Untangling the Self-Assembly of Organosiloxanes on Nanoparticles using 2D 29Si-29Si Solid-State NMR enhanced by Dynamic Nuclear Polarization. See ref. 13

3- Looking at bacterial cell walls with MAS-DNP enhanced NMR. See ref. 8

4- Using MAS-DNP to probe low-gamma nuclei: Structural Insights into Hydrated Y-Doped BaZrO3. See ref. 12



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