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Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Site Directed Spin Labeling and EPR Spectroscopic Studies of Pentameric Ligand-Gated Ion Channels
Published on: July 4, 2016
Physiological-temperature distance measurement in nucleic acid using triarylmethyl-based spin labels and pulsed
Georgiy Yu Shevelev1, Olesya A Krumkacheva, Alexander A Lomzov
1Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, §International Tomography Center, and #N.N. Vorozhtsov Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of the Sciences (SB RAS) , Novosibirsk 630090, Russia.
Abstract:
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).
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