The design and synthesis of functional self-assembled nanostructures is frequently an empirical process fraught with critical knowledge gaps about atomic-level structure in these noncovalent systems. Here, we report a structural model for a semiconductor nanotube formed via the self-assembly of naphthalenediimide-lysine (NDI-Lys) building blocks determined using experimental 13C–13C and 13C–15N distance restraints from solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance supplemented by electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction data. The structural model reveals a two-dimensional-crystal-like architecture of stacked monolayer rings each containing ∼50 NDI-Lys molecules, with significant π-stacking interactions occurring both within the confines of the ring and along the long axis of the tube. Excited-state delocalization and energy transfer are simulated for the nanotube based on time-dependent density functional theory and an incoherent hopping model. Remarkably, these calculations reveal efficient energy migration from the excitonic bright state, which is in agreement with the rapid energy transfer within NDI-Lys nanotubes observed previously using fluorescence spectroscopy.

Many structures of the proteins and protein assemblies that play central roles in fundamental biological processes and disease pathogenesis are not readily accessible via the conventional techniques of single-crystal X-ray diffraction and solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). On the other hand, many of these challenging biological systems are suitable targets for atomic-level structural and dynamic analysis by magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy, a technique that has far less stringent limitations on the molecular size and crystalline state.Over the past decade, major advances in instrumentation and methodology have prompted rapid growth in the field of biological solid-state NMR. However, despite this progress, one challenge for the elucidation of three-dimensional (3D) protein structures via conventional MAS NMR methods is the relative lack of long-distance data. Specifically, extracting unambiguous interatomic distance restraints larger than ∼5 Å from through-space magnetic dipole–dipole couplings among the protein 1H, 13C, and 15N nuclei has proven to be a considerable challenge for researchers. It is possible to circumvent this problem by extending the structural studies to include several analogs of the protein of interest, intentionally modified to contain covalently attached paramagnetic tags at selected sites. In these paramagnetic proteins, the hyperfine couplings between the nuclei and unpaired electrons can manifest themselves in NMR spectra in the form of relaxation enhancements of the nuclear spins that depend on the electron–nucleus distance. These effects can be significant for nuclei located up to ∼20 Å away from the paramagnetic center.In this Account, we discuss MAS NMR structural studies of nitroxide and EDTA-Cu2+ labeled variants of a model 56 amino acid globular protein, B1 immunoglobulin-binding domain of protein G (GB1), in the microcrystalline solid phase. We used a set of six EDTA-Cu2+-tagged GB1 mutants to rapidly determine the global protein fold in a de novo fashion. Remarkably, these studies required quantitative measurements of only approximately four or five backbone amide 15N longitudinal paramagnetic relaxation enhancements per residue, in the complete absence of the usual internuclear distance restraints. Importantly, this paramagnetic solid-state NMR methodology is general and can be directly applied to larger proteins and protein complexes for which a significant fraction of the signals can be assigned in standard 2D and 3D MAS NMR chemical shift correlation spectra.

Chromatin is a supramolecular assembly of DNA and histone proteins, organized into nucleosome repeat units. The dynamics of chromatin organization regulates DNA accessibility to eukaryotic transcription and DNA repair complexes. Yet, the structural and dynamic properties of chromatin at high concentrations characteristic of the cellular environment (>∼200 mg/mL) are largely unexplored at the molecular level. Here, we apply MAS NMR to directly probe the dynamic histone protein regions in 13C,15N-enriched recombinant nucleosome arrays at cellular chromatin concentrations and conditions designed to emulate distinct states of DNA condensation, with focus on the flexible H3 and H4 N-terminal tails which mediate chromatin compaction. 2D 1H–13C and 1H–15N spectra reveal numerous correlations for H3 and H4 backbone and side-chain atoms, enabling identification of specific residues making up the dynamically disordered N-terminal tail domains. Remarkably, we find that both the H3 and H4 N-terminal tails are overall dynamic even in a highly condensed state. This significant conformational flexibility of the histone tails suggests that they remain available for protein binding in compact chromatin states to enable regulation of heterochromatin. Furthermore, our study provides a foundation for quantitative structural and dynamic investigations of chromatin at physiological concentrations.

Determination of three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules by magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy is hindered by the paucity of nuclear dipolar coupling-based restraints corresponding to distances exceeding 5 Å. Recent MAS NMR studies of uniformly 13C,15N-enriched proteins containing paramagnetic centers have demonstrated the measurements of site-specific nuclear pseudocontact shifts and spin relaxation enhancements, which report on electron–nucleus distances up to ∼20 Å. These studies pave the way for the application of such long-distance paramagnetic restraints to protein structure elucidation and analysis of protein–protein and protein–ligand interactions in the solid phase. Paramagnetic species also facilitate the rapid acquisition of high resolution and sensitivity multidimensional solid-state NMR spectra of biomacromolecules using condensed data collection schemes, and characterization of solvent-accessible surfaces of peptides and proteins. In this review we discuss some of the latest applications of magic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with paramagnetic probes to the structural studies of proteins in the solid state.Graphical AbstractHighlights► Review of MAS solid-state NMR studies of proteins containing paramagnetic centers. ► Paramagnetic probes enable measurements of electron-nucleus distances up to ∼20Å. ► Paramagnetic restraints are applicable to protein structure determination. ► Paramagnetic species facilitate condensed solid-state NMR data collection. ► Paramagnetic species allow analysis of solvent-accessible surfaces in biomolecules.

The Y145Stop mutant of human prion protein, huPrP23–144, has been linked to PrP cerebral amyloid angiopathy, an inherited amyloid disease, and also serves as a valuable in vitro model for investigating the molecular basis of amyloid strains. Prior studies of huPrP23–144 amyloid by magic-angle-spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy revealed a compact β-rich amyloid core region near the C-terminus and an unstructured N-terminal domain. Here, with the focus on understanding the higher-order architecture of huPrP23–144 fibrils, we probed the intermolecular alignment of β-strands within the amyloid core using MAS NMR techniques and fibrils formed from equimolar mixtures of 15N-labeled protein and 13C-huPrP23–144 prepared with [1,3-13C2] or [2-13C]glycerol. Numerous intermolecular correlations involving backbone atoms observed in 2D 15N–13C spectra unequivocally suggest an overall parallel in-register alignment of the β-sheet core. Additional experiments that report on intermolecular 15N–13CO and 15N–13Cα dipolar couplings yielded an estimated strand spacing that is within ∼10% of the distances of 4.7–4.8 Å typical for parallel β-sheets.

The conformational flexibility of a human immunoglobulin κIV light-chain variable domain, LEN, which can undergo conversion to amyloid under destabilizing conditions, was investigated at physiological and acidic pH on a residue-specific basis by multidimensional solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods. Measurements of backbone chemical shifts and amide 15N longitudinal and transverse spin relaxation rates and steady-state nuclear Overhauser enhancements indicate that, on the whole, LEN retains its native three-dimensional fold and dimeric state at pH 2 and that the protein backbone exhibits limited fast motions on the picosecond to nanosecond time scale. On the other hand, 15N Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) relaxation dispersion NMR data show that LEN experiences considerable slower, millisecond time scale dynamics, confined primarily to three contiguous segments of about 5–20 residues and encompassing the N-terminal β-strand and complementarity determining loop regions 2 and 3 in the vicinity of the dimer interface. Quantitative analysis of the CPMG relaxation dispersion data reveals that at physiological pH these slow backbone motions are associated with relatively low excited-state protein conformer populations, in the ∼2–4% range. Upon acidification, the minor conformer populations increase significantly, to ∼10–15%, with most residues involved in stabilizing interactions across the dimer interface displaying increased flexibility. These findings provide molecular-level insights about partial protein unfolding at low pH and point to the LEN dimer dissociation, initiated by increased conformational flexibility in several well-defined regions, as being one of the important early events leading to amyloid assembly.

Amyloid aggregates of a C-truncated Y145Stop mutant of human prion protein, huPrP23−144, associated with a heritable amyloid angiopathy, have previously been shown to contain a compact, relatively rigid, and β-sheet-rich ∼30-residue amyloid core near the C-terminus under physiologically relevant conditions. In contrast, the remaining huPrP23−144 residues display considerable conformational dynamics, as evidenced by the absence of corresponding signals in cross-polarization (CP)-based solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectra under ambient conditions and their emergence in analogous spectra recorded at low temperature on frozen fibril samples. Here, we present the direct observation of residues comprising the flexible N-terminal domain of huPrP23−144 amyloid by using 2D J-coupling-based magic-angle spinning (MAS) SSNMR techniques. Chemical shifts for these residues indicate that the N-terminal domain is effectively an ensemble of protein chains with random-coil-like conformations. Interestingly, a detailed analysis of signal intensities in CP-based 3D SSNMR spectra suggests that non-negligible molecular motions may also be occurring on the NMR time scale within the relatively rigid core of huPrP23−144 amyloid. To further investigate this hypothesis, quantitative measurements of backbone dipolar order parameters and transverse spin relaxation rates were performed for the core residues. The observed order parameters indicate that, on the submicrosecond time scale, these residues are effectively rigid and experience only highly restricted and relatively uniform motions similar to those characteristic for well-structured regions of microcrystalline proteins. On the other hand, significant variations in magnitude of transverse spin relaxation rates were noted for residues present at different locations within the core region and correlated with observed differences in spectral intensities. While interpreted only qualitatively at the present time, the extent of the observed variations in transverse relaxation rates is consistent with the presence of relatively slow, microsecond−millisecond time scale chemical exchange type phenomena within the huPrP23−144 amyloid core.

A C-terminally truncated Y145Stop variant of the human prion protein (huPrP23–144) is associated with a hereditary amyloid disease known as PrP cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Previous studies have shown that recombinant huPrP23–144 can be efficiently converted in vitro to the fibrillar amyloid state, and that residues 138 and 139 play a critical role in the amyloidogenic properties of this protein. Here, we have used magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy to provide high-resolution insight into the protein backbone conformation and dynamics in fibrils formed by 13C,15N-labeled huPrP23–144. Surprisingly, we find that signals from ≈100 residues (i.e., ≈80% of the sequence) are not detected above approximately −20°C in conventional solid-state NMR spectra. Sequential resonance assignments revealed that signals, which are observed, arise exclusively from residues in the region 112–141. These resonances are remarkably narrow, exhibiting average 13C and 15N linewidths of ≈0.6 and 1 ppm, respectively. Altogether, the present findings indicate the existence of a compact, highly ordered core of huPrP23–144 amyloid encompassing residues 112–141. Analysis of 13C secondary chemical shifts identified likely β-strand segments within this core region, including β-strand 130–139 containing critical residues 138 and 139. In contrast to this relatively rigid, β-sheet-rich amyloid core, the remaining residues in huPrP23–144 amyloid fibrils under physiologically relevant conditions are largely unordered, displaying significant conformational dynamics.

We describe a condensed data collection approach that facilitates rapid acquisition of multidimensional magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectra of proteins by combining rapid sample spinning, optimized low-power radio frequency pulse schemes and covalently attached paramagnetic tags to enhance protein 1H spin−lattice relaxation. Using EDTA-Cu2+-modified K28C and N8C mutants of the B1 immunoglobulin binding domain of protein G as models, we demonstrate that high resolution and sensitivity 2D and 3D SSNMR chemical shift correlation spectra can be recorded in as little as several minutes and several hours, respectively, for samples containing ∼0.1−0.2 μmol of 13C,15N- or 2H,13C,15N-labeled protein. This mode of data acquisition is naturally suited toward the structural SSNMR studies of paramagnetic proteins, for which the typical 1H longitudinal relaxation time constants are inherently a factor of at least ∼3−4 lower relative to their diamagnetic counterparts. To illustrate this, we demonstrate the rapid site-specific determination of backbone amide 15N longitudinal paramagnetic relaxation enhancements using a pseudo-3D SSNMR experiment based on 15N−13C correlation spectroscopy, and we show that such measurements yield valuable long-range 15N−Cu2+ distance restraints which report on the three-dimensional protein fold.