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| Open AccessUnderstanding silicate hydration from quantitative analyses of hydrating tricalcium silicates
Despite its importance to the cement industry, tricalcium silicate hydration, with its sequence of induction, acceleration and deceleration steps, still hosts many open questions. Here, 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance provides new information on the silicate polymerization mechanism and its kinetics.
- Elizaveta Pustovgar
- , Rahul P. Sangodkar
- & Jean-Baptiste d’Espinose de Lacaillerie
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| Open AccessUltrafast multidimensional Laplace NMR for a rapid and sensitive chemical analysis
Laplace NMR provides complementary information to traditional NMR, such as details of molecular motion. Here, the authors report a correlation experiment capable of providing information on the physical environment of molecules while enhancing the chemical resolution and greatly reducing the experiment times.
- Susanna Ahola
- , Vladimir V Zhivonitko
- & Ville-Veikko Telkki
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| Open AccessCovalency of hydrogen bonds in liquid water can be probed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance experiments
Covalency is a fundamental concept in chemical bonding, but experimentally it is not possible to measure the degree of covalency of a particular bond. Here, the authors report a model to link the covalency of hydrogen bonds in water with the anisotropy of the magnetic shielding tensor in the proton NMR.
- Hossam Elgabarty
- , Rustam Z. Khaliullin
- & Thomas D. Kühne
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| Open AccessPhospho-selective mechanisms of arrestin conformations and functions revealed by unnatural amino acid incorporation and 19F-NMR
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) signal via G proteins or arrestin-mediated pathways; the plasticity of arrestin proteins is thought to underlie their function. Here, the authors use NMR to examine how β-arrestin-1 recognizes different GPCR phospho-barcodes, and how this triggers structural rearrangements to fulfill selective functions.
- Fan Yang
- , Xiao Yu
- & Jin-Peng Sun
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| Open AccessResidue-specific structures and membrane locations of pH-low insertion peptide by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance
The pH-low insertion peptides (pHLIPs) respond to environmental pH variations by forming transmembrane α-helices. Here, the authors present the residue-specific structures and membrane locations of pHLIPs at different pH levels to probe the mechanism of their pH-dependant membrane insertion.
- Nicolas S. Shu
- , Michael S. Chung
- & Wei Qiang
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Article
| Open AccessRNA structure determination by solid-state NMR spectroscopy
The determination of RNA structures within high-molecular weight protein-RNA complexes in non-crystalline state is technically challenging. Here, the authors describe a solid-state NMR protocol for the determination of RNA structures at high resolution.
- Alexander Marchanka
- , Bernd Simon
- & Teresa Carlomagno
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Article
| Open AccessIncipient charge order observed by NMR in the normal state of YBa2Cu3Oy
The nature and universality of the ordering phenomena observed in the normal state of high-temperature superconductors remain unclear. Here, Wu et al. observe several aspects of incipient charge ordering in YBCO via NMR measurements, clarifying the role of quenched disorder in their emergence.
- Tao Wu
- , Hadrien Mayaffre
- & Marc-Henri Julien
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In-cell NMR reveals potential precursor of toxic species from SOD1 fALS mutants
Mutations in the enzyme superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) underlie a form of neurodegenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here the authors employ in-cell NMR to show that SOD1 mutants adopt unstructured conformations that are unable to bind zinc and may form toxic SOD1 aggregates.
- Enrico Luchinat
- , Letizia Barbieri
- & Lucia Banci
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High-resolution structure of the Shigella type-III secretion needle by solid-state NMR and cryo-electron microscopy
Solving structures of large protein complexes remains a significant challenge for structural biologists. Demers et al. determine the atomic structure of a Shigellatype-III secretion system using a Rosetta-based modelling strategy that draws on both solid-state NMR and cryo-electron microscopy data sets.
- Jean-Philippe Demers
- , Birgit Habenstein
- & Nikolaos G. Sgourakis
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| Open AccessNuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy with single spin sensitivity
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful technique that can identify the presence of certain atoms in a sample by their magnetic properties. Müller et al.now take this concept to its ultimate limit by measuring individual nuclear spins near the surface of diamond.
- C. Müller
- , X. Kong
- & F. Jelezko
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Optical hyperpolarization and NMR detection of 129Xe on a microfluidic chip
Hyperpolarized 129Xe gas is used as a contrast agent in nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Here, the authors demonstrate a microfluidic chip that optically polarizes 129Xe gas for compact nuclear magnetic resonance imaging applications.
- Ricardo Jiménez-Martínez
- , Daniel J. Kennedy
- & John Kitching
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Revealing lithium–silicide phase transformations in nano-structured silicon-based lithium ion batteries via in situ NMR spectroscopy
Understanding structural transformations of electrodes during cycling is of significance in batteries. Here Ogata et al. develop an approach for probing (de)lithiation processes in nano-silicon by in situNMR spectroscopy, which reveals structural and kinetic insights into the lithium–silicide phase transformations.
- K. Ogata
- , E. Salager
- & C.P. Grey
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Multinuclear nanoliter one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy with a single non-resonant microcoil
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful analytical tool, but suffers from low resolution and the need for complex equipment. Fratila et al. develop a non-resonant planar transceiver microcoil that enables low-volume heteronuclear detection in a broad frequency range with high resolution.
- Raluca M. Fratila
- , M. Victoria Gomez
- & Aldrik H. Velders
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Familial Alzheimer’s mutations within APPTM increase Aβ42 production by enhancing accessibility of ε-cleavage site
In Alzheimer’s disease, familial mutations of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) can increase the production of the toxic cleavage product Aß42. Here, Chen et al. show that mutations within the transmembrane domain of APP favour Aß42 production by increasing the accessibility of the ε-cleavage site.
- Wen Chen
- , Eric Gamache
- & Chunyu Wang
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| Open AccessA hyperpolarized equilibrium for magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance is vital for analysis and diagnostics but suffers from insensitivity as only a small fraction of all NMR-active nuclei are spin-polarized and contribute to the signal. Here Hövener et al. describe an effect that replenishes nuclear spin polarization continuously for a considerably enhanced performance at low field.
- Jan-Bernd Hövener
- , Niels Schwaderlapp
- & Dominik von Elverfeldt
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| Open AccessNMR spectroscopic detection of chirality and enantiopurity in referenced systems without formation of diastereomers
The enantiopurity of chiral compounds is key in determining their activity or therapeutic action. Here, the authors present a versatile NMR method of enantiomeric excess determination using a symmetrical achiral molecule as resolving agent, based on complexation with analyte, without formation of diastereomers.
- Jan Labuta
- , Shinsuke Ishihara
- & Jonathan P. Hill
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| Open AccessDetermination of monolayer-protected gold nanoparticle ligand–shell morphology using NMR
Binary mixtures of molecules on the surface of nanoparticles can arrange randomly or into different domains to form Janus, patchy or striped particles. Liuet al.show that NMR can be used to determine the ligand-shell morphology of particles coated with aliphatic and aromatic ligands.
- Xiang Liu
- , Miao Yu
- & Francesco Stellacci
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Magnetic resonance force microscopy of paramagnetic electron spins at millikelvin temperatures
Magnetic resonance force microscopy is a scanning probe technique capable of detecting and imaging electron spins. Vinanteet al.bring the operating temperature of this method into the millikelvin temperature regime, revealing spin diffusion phenomena that were hitherto inaccessible.
- A. Vinante
- , G. Wijts
- & T.H. Oosterkamp
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Metabolomic high-content nuclear magnetic resonance-based drug screening of a kinase inhibitor library
Metabolism is altered in many diseases, and monitoring metabolic changes during treatment could facilitate investigations into treatment efficacy and cellular responses. This study reports an NMR-based method to screen the metabolic responses of mammalian cells to drugs.
- Stefano Tiziani
- , Yunyi Kang
- & Giovanni Paternostro
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| Open AccessStructure and compatibility of a magnesium electrolyte with a sulphur cathode
Magnesium is an ideal rechargeable battery anode material, but coupling it with a low-cost sulphur cathode, requires a non-nucleophilic electrolyte. Kimet al. prepare a non-nucleophilic electrolyte from hexamethyldisilazide magnesium chloride and aluminium trichloride, and show its compatibility with a sulphur cathode.
- Hee Soo Kim
- , Timothy S. Arthur
- & John Muldoon