MAS solid-state NMR is capable of determining structures of protonated solid proteins using proton-detected experiments. These experiments are performed at MAS rotation frequency of around 110 kHz, employing 0.5 mg of material. Here, we compare 1H, 13C correlation spectra obtained from protonated and deuterated microcrystalline proteins at MAS rotation frequency of 111 kHz, and show that the spectral quality obtained from deuterated samples is superior to those acquired using protonated samples in terms of resolution and sensitivity. In comparison to protonated samples, spectra obtained from deuterated samples yield a gain in resolution on the order of 3 and 2 in the proton and carbon dimensions, respectively. Additionally, the spectrum from the deuterated sample yields approximately 2-3 times more sensitivity compared to the spectrum of a protonated sample. This gain could be further increased by a factor of 2 by making use of stereospecific precursors for biosynthesis. Although the overall resolution and sensitivity of 1H, 13C correlation spectra obtained using protonated solid samples with rotation frequencies on the order of 110 kHz is high, the spectral quality is still poor when compared to the deuterated samples. We believe that experiments involving large protein complexes in which sensitivity is limiting will benefit from the application of deuteration schemes.

Bruker BioSpin Silberstreifen 4 76287 Rheinstetten Germany

Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt Ingolstädter Landstr 1 85764 Neuherberg Germany

Helmholtz Zentrum München Lichtenbergstr 4 85747 Garching Germany

Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science Lichtenbergstr 4 85747 Garching Germany

Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science Lichtenbergstr 4 85747 Garching Germany Deptartment of chemistry Faculty of Science Charles University Hlavova 8 12842 Praha 2 Czech Republic

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