Spin labels information

The most extensive and informative enzyme work with B12 spin labels has been carried out on the enzyme ethanolamine ammonia-lyase 123). This work has employed six-coordinate 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetra-methylpiperidine-N-oxyl-5 -deoxyadenosylcobinamide. Ethanolamine ammonia lyase uses 5 -deoxyadenosylcobalamin as cofactor. Spin labeled 5 -deoxyadenosylcobinamide was used in order to determine the nature of the first step in the mechanism of action of ethanolamine ammonia lyase by determining the manner in which the Co—C bond is broken. Spin labeled 5 -deoxyadenosylcobinamide was synthesized by taking reduced diaquocobinamide and reacting it with an excess of 5 -tosyl-adenosine to give 5 -deoxyadenosylcobinamide. This was stirred for three days with a 20 fold excess of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine... 

It is quite common to observe that the lines in a nitroxide spectrum show variations in width. One feature which contributes to this is the anisotropy of the nitroxide grouping, as a consequence of which the high field component of the nitrogen triplet may be perceptibly broadened. This effect is particularly noticeable when free tumbling of the nitroxide molecule is restricted either by the viscosity of the solvent or when the radical is incorporated into a very large (e.g. polymer) molecule. This selective line broadening is, of course, one of the principal sources of information in spin-labelling experiments (Berliner, 1976). 

In principle, spin label effects can be observed in both homonuclear and heteronuclear spectra. When no isotope-enriched peptide is available, integration of TOCSY spectra in the presence and in the absence of spin label gives information of spatial proximity of... 

The principles of ESR spectroscopy are very similar to NMR spectroscopy but the technique gives information about electron delocalizations rather than molecular structure and it enables the study of electron transfer reactions and the formation of paramagnetic intermediates in such reactions. In some situations, information regarding molecular structure can be obtained when suitable prosthetic groups are part of a molecule, e.g. FMN (flavin mononucleotide) in certain enzymes or the haem group in haemoglobin. Sometimes it is possible to attach suitable groups to molecules to enable their reactions to be monitored by ESR techniques. Such spin labels as they are called, are usually nitroxide radicals of the type... 

The name spin trapping was coined by Janzen, and derives from analogy with the use of stable nitroxyls as spin labels (or spin probes ) that provide spectroscopic information regarding their microscopic environment, a procedure pioneered by McConnell et alP ... 

Spin-labelling of free, or cell-surface, sialic acids has been used in order to obtain information about the rate of rotational orientation of the label after attachment to macromolecules this knowledge is important in the investigation of the orientation and mobility of sialogly-coproteins in, for example, cell membranes. In a first approach, the label was introduced into the carboxyl groups by a carbodiimicle-me-diated, amidation procedure.177 This method is, however, not specific... 

KcsA is a potassium channel protein from Streptomyces lividans that assembles as a tetramer.68 An X-ray diffraction study of a crystal defined the transmembrane and some extracellular portions of the structure but no structural information could be obtained for cytoplasmic domains. Since the protein assembles as a tetramer, when one spin label is present on each subunit, it is difficult to interpret the dipolar interactions because of the presence of adjacent... 

Spin-Label Methodology Applied to Hydrophobic Interaction Studies of Humic Substances. Many molecules have no intrinsic paramagnetic centers, but EPR can provide useful information about these molecules if a structurally sensitive spin label is attached (Knowles et al., 1976). Spin-label molecules are stable free... 

Below it is shown that PELDOR spectra contain also information about numbers of spins coupled in a complex, spin label orientation and coupling mechanisms and how to extract this information. 

Hustedt, E. J., and Beth, A. H. (2000). Structural Information from CW-EPR spectra of dipolar coupled nitroxide spin labels. In Biological Magnetic Resonance Distance Measurements in Biological Systems by EPR, (L. J. Berliner, S. S. Eaton, and G. R. Eaton, eds.), Vol. 19. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publisher, New York. 

Nitroxide radicals are widely used as spin labels in biology, biochemistry and biophysics to gain information about the structure and the dynamics of biomolecules, membranes, and different nanostructures. Their widespread use is related to an unusual stability, which allows researchers to label specific sites and to detect the most informative EPR parameters (g and hyperfme tensors) that are very sensitive to interactions with the chemical surroundings. Figure 2.1 collects all the radicals used in the following to illustrate the different aspects mentioned in the preceding section. 

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