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Updated: Apr 29, 2026

Site Directed Spin Labeling and EPR Spectroscopic Studies of Pentameric Ligand-Gated Ion Channels
Published on: July 4, 2016
Characterizing the dynamics of the leader-linker interaction in the glycine riboswitch with site-directed spin
Jackie M Esquiaqui1, Eileen M Sherman, Sandra A Ionescu
1Department of Chemistry, University of Florida , P.O. Box 117200, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States.
Abstract:
Site-directed spin labeling with continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was utilized to characterize dynamic features of the kink-turn motif formed through a leader-linker interaction in the Vibrio cholerae glycine riboswitch. Efficient incorporation of spin-labels into select sites within the phosphate backbone of the leader-linker region proceeded via splinted ligation of chemically synthesized spin-labeled oligonucleotides to in vitro transcribed larger RNA fragments. The resultant nitroxide EPR line shapes have spectral characteristics consistent with a kink-turn motif and reveal differential backbone dynamics that are modulated by the presence of magnesium, potassium, and glycine.
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