NMR Assignment of Methyl Groups in Immobilized Proteins Using Multiple-Bond 13C Homonuclear Transfers, Proton Detection, and Very Fast MAS

In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins, methyl protons play a particular role as extremely sensitive reporters on dynamics, allosteric effects, and protein-protein interactions, accessible even in high-molecular-weight systems approaching 1 MDa. The notorious issue of their chemical shift assignment is addressed here by a joint use of solid-state H-1-detected methods at very fast (nearly 100 kHz) magic-angle spinning, partial deuteration, and high-magnetic fields. The suitability of a series of RF schemes is evaluated for the efficient coherence transfer across entire C-13 side chains of methyl-containing residues, which is key for establishing connection between methyl and backbone H-1 resonances. The performance of ten methods for recoupling of either isotropic C-13-C-13 scalar or anisotropic dipolar interactions (five variants of TOBSY, FLOPSY, DIPSI, WALTZ, RFDR, and DREAM) is evaluated experimentally at two state-of-the-art magic-angle spinning (55 and 94.5 kHz) and static magnetic field conditions (18.8 and 23.5 T). Model isotopically labeled compounds (alanine and Met-Leu-Phe tripeptide) and ILV-methyl and amide-selectively protonated, and otherwise deuterated chicken alpha-spectrin SH3 protein are used as convenient reference systems. Spin dynamics simulations in SIMPSON are performed to determine optimal parameters of these RF schemes, up to recently experimentally attained spinning frequencies (200 kHz) and B-0 field strengths (28.2 T). The concept of linearization of C-13 side chain by appropriate isotope labeling is revisited and showed to significantly increase sensitivity of methyl-to-backbone correlations. A resolution enhancement provided by 4D spectroscopy with non-uniform (sparse) sampling is demonstrated to remove ambiguities in simultaneous resonance assignment of methyl proton and carbon chemical shifts.

Automated summary

In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins, methyl protons are important in studying dynamics, allosteric effects, and protein-protein interactions. This study addresses the challenge of assigning chemical shifts to methyl protons by using solid-state H-1-detected methods, fast magic-angle spinning, partial deuteration, and high-magnetic fields. The performance of different RF schemes for transferring coherence between methyl and backbone resonances is evaluated, and optimal parameters are determined through simulations. The concept of linearizing C-13 side chains by appropriate isotope labeling and resolution enhancement provided by 4D spectroscopy are also demonstrated.