NEWS AND UPDATES

October was Nobel Prizes month, and although this year, there were no Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards for NMR focused work, there is a lot to celebrate, comment and reflect on.

The 2024 Nobel prize in Chemistry was awarded to David Baker for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create brand-new molecules with applications as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors; and to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for their efforts in developing AI models that have been used by millions of researchers world-wide as a tool to elucidate protein structures.

While this year’s Nobel prize in Chemistry highlights the transformative impact of AI on molecular design and protein structure prediction, the integration of AI with NMR spectroscopy offers similar groundbreaking potential.

NMR provides detailed insights into molecular dynamics and interactions, but interpreting the complex data can be time-consuming and labour-intensive. AI, with its ability to rapidly analyse large datasets, can enhance the precision and speed of NMR data interpretation, identifying patterns and predicting structures with greater accuracy. NMR/AI collaborative approaches could revolutionise the understanding of biomolecular interactions, leading, for example, to more efficient drug design, improved diagnostics, and new therapeutic targets in medicine.

© JOHAN JARNESTAD/THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

 

Save the date: The NMRDG/BRSG Winter Meeting will be on the 12 -13 December 2024 at the RSC’s Burlington House in London and is an important event in the annual calendar of the NMR community. This event brings together a distinguished lineup of speakers and offers a prime opportunity to learn about cutting-edge NMR research in the UK. Please find the full program and registration link here.

Don’t Forget to apply for the Connect NMR UK Training Mobility Grant, we can support your travel and accommodation expenses.

 

Training: If you are planning to attend an NMR focused training course or visit a facility for training purposes or access to techniques, hardware or tools that are beyond your local capabilities, don’t forget to apply for the Training Mobility Grant.  We can support your visit! Just fill this form and send it back to us (anac@liverpool.ac.uk).

 

NMR Community: Please get in touch with any ideas or thoughts about the network and how can we further support great NMR research in UK (anac@liverpool.ac.uk).

 

 

RESEARCH HIGHILIGHTS

“The paper “Binding kinetics drive G protein subtype selectivity at the β1-adrenergic receptor” investigates the mechanisms by which ligand binding influences the selectivity of different G protein subtypes at the β1-adrenergic receptor, a GPCR which plays a crucial role in cardiac function. The study focuses on how differences in the rate of G protein association and dissociation with the receptor alters downstream signalling pathways. By understanding these dynamics, the research provides insights into how the receptor preferentially activates certain G proteins.

Using a combination of 1H-13C and 19F NMR spectroscopy with position-selective isotope labelling and biolayer interferometry (BLI), the team of Prof Daniel Nietlispach was able to measure the kinetics of G protein binding and release, offering a detailed understanding of how these processes govern the specificity of G protein subtype activation in real-time. These findings could be pivotal in designing drugs that exploit binding kinetics to selectively modulate receptor function.”

Jones et al., Nat Commun 2024; 15, 1334. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45680-7

 

The paper “Quantitative reaction monitoring using parahydrogen-enhanced benchtop NMR spectroscopy” is the result of a collaboration between Dr Meghan Halse and Professor Simon Ducket from the University of York. It explores a novel approach to monitoring chemical reactions by exploiting parahydrogen-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy on a benchtop system. This method enhances the sensitivity of NMR, enabling real-time, quantitative tracking of reaction processes. The paper highlights how parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) can significantly boost signal intensity, allowing for detailed analysis of chemical transformations without needing high-field NMR instruments. The impact of this research is in providing an accessible, cost-effective tool for chemists to study reactions with precision and in real time.

Robinson et al., Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26(19):14317-14328. doi: 10.1039/d3cp06221j

 

If you have recently published an NMR research focused paper, please share it with us. Just send us the link (and a figure you have!).

We can highlight it in our newsletter, and social media please get in contact!

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

CCPN upcoming Online workshops:

Titration Data Analysis Workshop (online) 12 November 2024 13:00-16:00

Analysis V2 to V3 Transition Workshop (online) 2 December 2024 13:00-16:00

CCPN Analysis Metabolomics Workshop, Liverpool (hybrid) 5 November 2024 13:15-16:45 Liverpool

NMRDG/BRSG Winter Meeting – 12 December 2024 10:00 – 13 December 2024 16:00 at the RSC’s Burlington House in London.

Frontiers of Magnetic Resonance / NMR Discussion Group Spring Meeting – 31 March 2025 10:00 – 1 April 2025 16:00 at Southampton , UK

Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference – JOINT ENC – ISMAR CONFERENCE – 6 – 10 April 2025 at the Asilomar Conference Center, 800 Asilomar Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950

Workshop – Paramagnetic NMR & DNP enhanced solid-state NMR – 19 – 23 May 2025 at the CRMN, Lyon.

This training opportunity is open to a maximum of 30 participants. More information can be found here.

 EuroMAR2025 – 6-10 July 2025 at Oulu, Finland

2025 Alpine Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Solids – 14-18 September 2025 at Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France

PANIC – Practical Applications of NMR in Industry Conference – 19-22 May 2025 at Rockville, Maryland at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) Campus

 

 

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:

Please contact us if you have an open position you would like to announce in the Connect NMR UK newsletter.

 

FEATURED FACILITY:

Kicking off our new section focusing on the story, vision, work and impact of the NMR Facilities across the UK, we have Dr Paolo Cerreia Vioglio telling us about the Nottingham DNP MAS NMR:

“The Nottingham DNP MAS NMR Facility was established in 2015 to provide the UK scientific community with access to state-of-the-art DNP MAS NMR spectroscopy and associated expertise. Located at the University of Nottingham’s Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, the Facility was funded by the EPSRC with the vision of supporting world-class research in the UK and bringing the NMR landscape in line with overseas competitors. The Facility houses a 600 MHz Bruker DNP MAS NMR spectrometer with a 395 GHz gyrotron as its microwave source, making it the only commercial, gyrotron-based instrument in the UK at the time of writing. In addition to two standard 3.2 mm double and triple resonance probes, the Facility is also equipped with a 1.3 mm triple resonance probe to enable fast MAS DNP. Investigators can access the Facility free of charge for feasibility or pilot studies, whereas for longer projects a pay for access route is provided. In all cases, 24h instrument time per day, consumables and technical support are included.

DNP opens up experimental routes that would otherwise be impossible or extremely impractical to achieve. By increasing NMR signal sensitivity by factors of 10–100, DNP allows the detection of low concentration species such as transient intermediates in chemical or biochemical reactions, or surface species that would simply be undetectable by conventional solid-state NMR. [1-4] Importantly, DNP is expected to play a major role for the future developments in the field of structural biology. Indeed, the technique is particularly suited to studying structural features of biological systems at natural abundance by measuring structural constraints through multidimensional correlation experiments such as 13C–13C and 15N–13C. [5]

Due to the wide scope of the technique, research carried out at the Nottingham DNP MAS NMR Facility is distinctly interdisciplinary, comprising prominent fields such as catalysis, energy storage materials, materials chemistry, and chemical biology. [6-9]

The Facility is always available to respond to general enquiries and to consider new projects and/or new applications. More details can be found on the Facility website Nottingham DNP MAS NMR Facility – The University of Nottingham.

For general enquiries or to apply for instrument time contact the facility manager Paolo Cerreia Vioglioand/or Walter Köckenberger and/or Alexey Potapov.”

References:

  1. Becker-Baldus, J., et al., Enlightening the photoactive site of channelrhodopsin-2 by DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015. 112(32): p. 9896-9901.
  2. Juramy, M., et al., Monitoring Crystallization Processes in Confined Porous Materials by Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021. 143(16): p. 6095-6103.
  3. Hope, M.A., et al., Surface-selective direct 17O DNP NMR of CeO2 nanoparticles. Chemical Communications, 2017. 53(13): p. 2142-2145.
  4. Xiao, D., et al., Fast detection and structural identification of carbocations on zeolites by dynamic nuclear polarization enhanced solid-state NMR. Chemical Science, 2018. 9(43): p. 8184-8193.
  5. Alphonse, S., et al., Sequential Protein Expression and Capsid Assembly in Cell: Toward the Study of Multiprotein Viral Capsids Using Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Techniques. Biochemistry, 2018. 57(10): p. 1568-1571.
  6. Deo, T., et al., Application of DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR to studies of amyloid-β peptide interaction with lipid membranes.Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, 2021. 236: p. 105071.
  7. Hope, M.A., et al., Selective NMR observation of the SEI–metal interface by dynamic nuclear polarisation from lithium metal. Nature Communications, 2020. 11(1): p. 2224.
  8. Mais, M., et al., Ion exchange and binding in selenium remediation materials using DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, 2019. 98: p. 19-23.
  9. Chen, J., et al., Polar surface structure of oxide nanocrystals revealed with solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Nature Communications, 2019. 10(1): p. 5420.