Structural Equilibrium in New Nitroxide-Capped Cyclodextrins: CW and Pulse EPR Study

International audienceDesign of the new spin-labeled cyclodextrins can significantly extend the functionality of nitroxides. A series of new complexes based on fully methylated cyclodextrin (TRIMEB) covalently bound to the piperidine, pyrroline, pyrrolidine, and pH-sensitive imidazoline type nitroxides has been synthesized and studied using pulse and continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The influence of the radical and linker properties on the structure of complexes formed has been investigated. Using the electron spin echo envelope modulation technique, we have analyzed quantitatively the accessibility of radicals to solvent molecules in studied complexes depending on the structure and length of the linkers. In all studied systems we observed different types of equilibria between conformations with radical fragment being outside the TRIMEB cavity and radical fragment capping the cavity of TRIMEB. The observed guest-induced shift of equilibrium toward the complex with radical capping TRIMEB cavity was explained by a change of macrocydic configuration of TRIMEB. Complex with the -NH-CO- linker has been found most perspective for the applications requiring close location of nitroxide to the inclusion complex of TRIMEB. Using continuous wave EPR, we have shown that the pH-sensitive radical covalently bound to TRIMEB maintains its pH-sensitivity, but this complexation does not reduce radical reduction rate in the reaction with ascorbic acid

Structural Equilibrium in New Nitroxide-Capped Cyclodextrins: CW and Pulse EPR Study

Design of the new spin-labeled cyclodextrins can significantly extend the functionality of nitroxides. A series of new complexes based on fully methylated cyclodextrin (TRIMEB) covalently bound to the piperidine, pyrroline, pyrrolidine, and pH-sensitive imidazoline type nitroxides has been synthesized and studied using pulse and continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The influence of the radical and linker properties on the structure of complexes formed has been investigated. Using the electron spin echo envelope modulation technique, we have analyzed quantitatively the accessibility of radicals to solvent molecules in studied complexes depending on the structure and length of the linkers. In all studied systems we observed different types of equilibria between conformations with radical fragment being outside the TRIMEB cavity and radical fragment capping the cavity of TRIMEB. The observed guest-induced shift of equilibrium toward the complex with radical capping TRIMEB cavity was explained by a change of macrocyclic configuration of TRIMEB. Complex with the −NH–CO– linker has been found most perspective for the applications requiring close location of nitroxide to the inclusion complex of TRIMEB. Using continuous wave EPR, we have shown that the pH-sensitive radical covalently bound to TRIMEB maintains its pH-sensitivity, but this complexation does not reduce radical reduction rate in the reaction with ascorbic acid

Complementary-addressed site-directed spin labeling of long natural RNAs

Nanoscale distance measurements by pulse dipolar Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy allow new insights into the structure and dynamics of complex biopolymers. EPR detection requires site directed spin labeling (SDSL) of biomolecule(s), which remained challenging for long RNAs up-to-date. Here, we demonstrate that novel complementary-addressed SDSL approach allows efficient spin labeling and following structural EPR studies of long RNAs. We succeeded to spin-label Hepatitis C Virus RNA internal ribosome entry site consisting of ≈330 nucleotides and having a complicated spatial structure. Application of pulsed double electron–electron resonance provided spin–spin distance distribution, which agrees well with the results of molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. Thus, novel SDSL approach in conjunction with EPR and MD allows structural studies of long natural RNAs with nanometer resolution and can be applied to systems of biological and biomedical significance.ISSN:1362-4962ISSN:0301-561

Synthesis of 2,5-Bis(spirocyclohexane)-Substituted Nitroxides of Pyrroline and Pyrrolidine Series, Including Thiol-Specific Spin Label: An Analogue of MTSSL with Long Relaxation Time

The nitroxides of 7-azadispiro[5.1.5.2]­pentadecane and 7-azadispiro[5.1.5.2]­pentadeca-14-ene series have been prepared, including thiol-specific methane thiosulfonate spin label for site-directed spin labeling. The effect of spirocyclohexane moieties on chemical and spectral properties has been studied. The obtained temperature dependencies of electron spin relaxation parameters demonstrate that new nitroxides may be suitable for PELDOR distance measurements at 80–120 K. Moreover, the new nitroxides demonstrated much higher stability toward reduction by ascorbate than spirocyclohexane-substituted nitroxides of piperidine series and showed 1.3–3.14 times lower reduction rates compared to corresponding 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl nitroxides

Saccharides as Prospective Immobilizers of Nucleic Acids for Room-Temperature Structural EPR Studies

Pulsed dipolar electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for structural studies of biomolecules and their complexes. This method, whose applicability has been recently extended to room temperatures, requires immobilization of the studied biosystem to prevent averaging of dipolar couplings; at the same time, the modification of native conformations by immobilization must be avoided. In this work, we provide first demonstration of room-temperature EPR distance measurements in nucleic acids using saccharides trehalose, sucrose, and glucose as immobilizing media. We propose an approach that keeps structural conformation and unity of immobilized double-stranded DNA. Remarkably, room-temperature electron spin dephasing time of triarylmethyl-labeled DNA in trehalose is noticeably longer compared to previously used immobilizers, thus providing a broader range of available distances. Therefore, saccharides, and especially trehalose, can be efficiently used as immobilizers of nucleic acids, mimicking native conditions and allowing wide range of structural EPR studies at room temperatures

A Versatile Approach to Attachment of Triarylmethyl Labels to DNA for Nanoscale Structural EPR Studies at Physiological Temperatures

Triarylmethyl (trityl, TAM) radicals are a promising class of spin labels for nanometer-scale distance measurements in biomolecules at physiological temperatures. However, to date, existing approaches to site-directed TAM labeling of DNA have been limited to label attachment at the termini of oligonucleotides, thus hindering a majority of demanded applications. Herein, we report a new versatile strategy for TAM attachment at arbitrary sites of nucleic acids. It utilizes an achiral non-nucleoside phosphoramidite monomer for automated solid-phase synthesis of oligonucleotides, which are then postsynthetically functionalized with TAM. We demonstrate a synthesis of a set of oligonucleotide complexes that are TAM-labeled at internal or terminal sites, as well as the possibility of measuring interspin distances up to ∼5–6 nm at 298 K using double quantum coherence electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Implementation of the developed approach strongly broadens the scope of nucleic acids and nucleoprotein complexes available for nanoscale structural EPR studies at room temperatures

Triarylmethyl Labels: Toward Improving the Accuracy of EPR Nanoscale Distance Measurements in DNAs

Triarylmethyl (trityl, TAM) based spin labels represent a promising alternative to nitroxides for EPR distance measurements in biomolecules. Herewith, we report synthesis and comparative study of series of model DNA duplexes, 5′-spin-labeled with TAMs and nitroxides. We have found that the accuracy (width) of distance distributions obtained by double electron–electron resonance (DEER/PELDOR) strongly depends on the type of radical. Replacement of both nitroxides by TAMs in the same spin-labeled duplex allows narrowing of the distance distributions by a factor of 3. Replacement of one nitroxide by TAM (orthogonal labeling) leads to a less pronounced narrowing but at the same time gains sensitivity in DEER experiment due to efficient pumping on the narrow EPR line of TAM. Distance distributions in nitroxide/nitroxide pairs are influenced by the structure of the linker: the use of a short amine-based linker improves the accuracy by a factor of 2. At the same time, a negligible dependence on the linker length is found for the distribution width in TAM/TAM pairs. Molecular dynamics calculations indicate greater conformational disorder of nitroxide labels compared to TAM ones, thus rationalizing the experimentally observed trends. Thereby, we conclude that double spin-labeling using TAMs allows obtaining narrower spin–spin distance distributions and potentially more precise distances between labeling sites compared to traditional nitroxides

Physiological-Temperature Distance Measurement in Nucleic Acid using Triarylmethyl-Based Spin Labels and Pulsed Dipolar EPR Spectroscopy

Resolving the nanometer-scale structure of biomolecules in natural conditions still remains a challenging task. We report the first distance measurement in nucleic acid at physiological temperature using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The model 10-mer DNA duplex has been labeled with reactive forms of triarylmethyl radicals and then immobilized on a sorbent in water solution and investigated by double quantum coherence EPR. We succeeded in development of optimal triarylmethyl-based labels, approach for site-directed spin labeling and efficient immobilization procedure that, working together, allowed us to measure as long distances as ∼4.6 nm with high accuracy at 310 K (37 °C)