Abstract
A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiment is described for the direct detection of N–H⋯N hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) in 15N isotope-labeled biomolecules. This quantitative HNN-COSY (correlation spectroscopy) experiment detects and quantifies electron-mediated scalar couplings across the H-bond (H-bond scalar couplings), which connect magnetically active 15N nuclei of the H-bond donor and acceptor. Detectable H-bonds comprise the imino H-bonds in canonical Watson–Crick base pairs, many H-bonds in unusual nucleic acid base pairs and H-bonds between protein backbone or side-chain N–H donor and N acceptor moieties. Unlike other NMR observables, which provide only indirect evidence of the presence of H-bonds, the H-bond scalar couplings identify all partners of the H-bond, the donor, the donor proton and the acceptor in a single experiment. The size of the scalar couplings can be related to H-bond geometries and as a time average to H-bond dynamics. The time required to detect the H-bonds is typically less than 1 d at millimolar concentrations for samples of molecular weight ≤≈25 kDa. A 15N/13C-labeled potato spindle tuber viroid T1 RNA domain is used as an example to illustrate this procedure.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge our collaborators Professor Barfield, Professor Feigon and Dr. Bax for their continued support and enthusiasm. This work was supported by SNF Grant 31-109712 (S.G.) and by a stipend of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (L.N.).
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Supplementary Note 1
Bruker two-dimensional HNN-COSY pulse sequence code (DOC 74 kb)
Supplementary Note 2
Conversion and NMRPipe processing script for 2D HNN-COSY data recorded on a Bruker NMR spectrometer (DOC 29 kb)
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Dingley, A., Nisius, L., Cordier, F. et al. Direct detection of N−H⋯N hydrogen bonds in biomolecules by NMR spectroscopy. Nat Protoc 3, 242–248 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2007.497
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2007.497
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