Abstract
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is a spectroscopic technique that is sensitive to the presence of unpaired electrons and, therefore, is a powerful tool for the study of proteins containing complex metallocofactors. When a magnetic field is applied to a transition metal-containing system with unpaired electrons and the sample is irradiated with microwaves, a spin transition can be observed. Through detailed analysis of the resulting EPR spectrum, one can extract parameters that can provide information about the electronic environment of the unpaired electrons found on the metal centers. Here, a basic introduction to the theory of EPR and the instrumentation is presented along with procedures for obtaining EPR spectra of sensitive metalloprotein species.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Palmer G (2000) Electron paramagnetic resonance of metalloproteins. In: Que L Jr (ed) Physical methods in bioinorganic chemistry: spectroscopy and magnetism. University Science Books, Sausalito, CA
Bencini A, Gatteschi D (1999) Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. In: Solomon EI, Lever ABP (eds) Inorganic electronic structure and spectroscopy, volume I: methodology, vol 1. Wiley, New York, NY
Eaton GR, Eaton SS, Barr DP et al (2010) Quantitative EPR. Springer-Verlag, Wien
Chasteen ND, Snetsinger PA (2000) ESEEM and ENDOR spectroscopy. In: Que L Jr (ed) Physical methods in bioinorganic chemistry: spectroscopy and magnetism. University Science Books, Sausalito, CA
Hendrich MP, Debrunner PG (1998) EPR of non-Kramers systems in biology. In: Eaton GR, Eaton SS, Salikhov KM (eds) Foundations of modern EPR. World Scientific, Singapore
Hoffman BM, DeRose VJ, Doan PE et al (1993) Metalloenzyme active-site structure and function through multifrequency cw and pulsed ENDOR. In: Berliner LJ, Reuben J (eds) Biological Magnetic Resonance. Plenum, New York, NY
Onate YA, Finnegan MG, Hales BJ et al (1993) Variable temperature magnetic circular dichroism studies of reduced nitrogenase iron proteins and [4Fe-4S]+ synthetic analog clusters. Biochim Biophys Acta 1164:113–123
Lindahl PA, Day EP, Kent TA et al (1985) Mössbauer, EPR, and magnetization studies of the Azotobacter vinelandii Fe protein. Evidence for a [4Fe-4S]1+ cluster with spin S = 3/2. J Biol Chem 260:11160–11173
Watt GD, McDonald JW (1985) Electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of the iron protein of nitrogenase: existence of a g = 4 spectral component and its effect on spin quantization. Biochemistry 24:7226–7231
Hu Y, Fay AW, Ribbe MW (2005) Identification of a nitrogenase FeMo cofactor precursor on NifEN complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:3236–3241
Surerus KK, Hendrich MP, Christie PD et al (1992) Möessbauer and integer-spin EPR of the oxidized P-clusters of nitrogenase: POX is a non-Kramers system with a nearly degenerate ground doublet. J Am Chem Soc 114:8579–8590
Kamp C, Silakov A, Winkler M et al (2008) Isolation and first EPR characterization of the [FeFe]-hydrogenases from green algae. Biochim Biophys Acta 1777:410–416
Foerster S, Stein M, Brecht M et al (2003) Single crystal EPR studies of the reduced active site of [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F. J Am Chem Soc 125:83–93
Bray RC, Vänngård T (1969) ‘Rapidly appearing’ molybdenum electron-paramagnetic-resonance signals from reduced xanthine oxidase. Biochem J 114:725–734
Lindahl PA, Münck E, Ragsdale SW (1990) CO dehydrogenase from Clostridium thermoaceticum. EPR and electrochemical studies in CO2 and argon atmospheres. J Biol Chem 265:3873–3879
Acknowledgments
The authors are supported by the National Science Foundation grant CHE-1609553 (to M.W.R. and Y.H.), and thank Caleb Hiller for providing the EPR spectra used in this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Jasniewski, A., Hu, Y., Ribbe, M.W. (2019). Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Metalloproteins. In: Hu, Y. (eds) Metalloproteins. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1876. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8864-8_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8864-8_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8863-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8864-8
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols