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High Field/High Frequency Saturation Transfer Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: Increased Sensitivity to Very Slow Rotational Motions

Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-0615

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Albert H. Beth, Dept. of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, 702 Light Hall, Nashville, TN 37232-0615. Tel.: 615-322-4235; E-mail: al.beth{at}mcmail.vanderbilt.edu.

Saturation transfer electron paramagnetic resonance (ST-EPR) spectroscopy has been employed to characterize the very slow microsecond to millisecond rotational dynamics of a wide range of nitroxide spin-labeled proteins and other macromolecules in the past three decades. The vast majority of this previous work has been carried out on spectrometers that operate at X-band (9 GHz) microwave frequency with a few investigations reported at Q-band (34 GHz). EPR spectrometers that operate in the 94–250-GHz range and that are capable of making conventional linear EPR measurements on small aqueous samples have now been developed. This work addresses potential advantages of utilizing these same high frequencies for ST-EPR studies that seek to quantitatively analyze the very slow rotational dynamics of spin-labeled macromolecules. For example, the uniaxial rotational diffusion (URD) model has been shown to be particularly applicable to the study of the rotational dynamics of integral membrane proteins. Computational algorithms have been employed to define the sensitivity of ST-EPR signals at 94, 140, and 250 GHz to the correlation time for URD, to the amplitude of constrained URD, and to the orientation of the spin label relative to the URD axis. The calculations presented in this work demonstrate that these higher microwave frequencies provide substantial increases in sensitivity to the correlation time for URD, to small constraints in URD, and to the geometry of the spin label relative to the URD axis as compared with measurements made at X-band. Moreover, the calculations at these higher frequencies indicate sensitivity to rotational motions in the 1–100-ms time window, particularly at 250 GHz, thereby extending the slow motion limit for ST-EPR by two orders of magnitude relative to X- and Q-bands.