Credit: University of Waterloo Researchers at the University of Waterloo have taken a huge step toward making smart devices that do not use batteries or require charging. The fact that it offers high resolution and 3D imaging of biomolecular structures at the angstrom scale makes this a truly transformative capability in structural biology.
Boosting Nuclear Spin Signals
Traditional magnetic resonance methodologies are based on the thermal spin population difference of ‘up’ and ‘down’ states in an external magnetic field. The built in fluctuations are quoted as being greater than the thermal polarization due to the loss of statistical averaging that only becomes apparent at nanometer scales in which there are now not very many spins.
Enter dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). DNP amplifies the nuclear spin polarization by transferring polarization from electrons to nearby nuclei; it enhances sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. Compared to statistical polarization, the scientists found that their experiments of thermal polarization afforded a nearly 100-fold increase in the signal of hydrogen nuclear spins and thus a 15 times increase in sensitivity. Most importantly, this improvement enabled them to detect signals more quickly — reducing the time of measurement by a factor of 200.
Combining DNP with Nanoscale Imaging
The main innovation here is the team’s use of pulsed DNP and nanoscale magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) techniques together. MRFM is a significant technique used to investigate the magnetic properties of nanoscale materials, but it suffers from a low detection sensitivity.
The DNP leaves its mark on the polarizations of this spins, in order that their nuclear signals are rotated by way of c in a environment-friendly style relative to those inside the bulk, however below MRFM prerequisites the 2D lattices bought through freeze-drying already have huge chemical heterogeneity. This synergistic method has the potential to open up new avenues for structural biology, as the lead researcher Raffi Budakian explains: “Combining DNP’s large enhancements with nanometer-scale magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultra-sensitive spin detection, three-dimensional MRI of biomolecular structures with angstrom-scale resolution may become possible—an enabling capability in structural biology.
The research by the team marks a major step forward for the field of nanoscale imaging, enabling new understanding of difficult-to-characterize biological systems like viruses and proteins.
Conclusion
Research done by the team at Waterloo has the potential to revolutionize structural biology. Now with the power of extended dynamic nuclear polarization and nanoscale precision imaging, they are pioneering a new frontier to get a closer look at these biomolecular structures. This new tool could give scientists, for the first time, a detailed understanding of the function and look at all angles that determine protein function behavior in biophysical processes or even improve drug discovery mechanisms — from improved diseases treatment to attendant vaccine development.
