Principal Investigator Mei Hong
Driven by our interest in answering important biological questions, we continue to expand the capability of solid-state NMR spectroscopy. We have a long-standing interest in increasing the distance reach of NMR. Using nuclear spins with high gyromagnetic ratios such as 19F and 1H, and exploiting multi-spin effects, we are pushing the distance upper limit of NMR to ~2 nm. This capability opens up many possibilities for determining the oligomeric structures and global conformational changes of proteins, and for determining the structures of protein-lipid, protein-carbohydrate and other macromolecular complexes. To determine the amplitude of molecular motion, we develop anisotropic-isotropic correlation experiments involving both dipolar interactions and 2H quadrupolar interactions under fast MAS and in high magnetic fields.