Protein-nucleotide contacts in motor proteins detected by DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR

DNP (dynamic nuclear polarization)-enhanced solid-state NMR is employed to directly detect protein-DNA and protein-ATP interactions and identify the residue type establishing the intermolecular contacts. While conventional solid-state NMR can detect protein-DNA interactions in large oligomeric protein assemblies in favorable cases, it typically suffers from low signal-to-noise ratios. We show here, for the oligomeric DnaB helicase from Helicobacter pylori complexed with ADP and single-stranded DNA, that this limitation can be overcome by using DNP-enhanced spectroscopy. Interactions are established by DNP-enhanced ³¹P-¹³C polarization-transfer experiments followed by the recording of a 2D ¹³C-¹³C correlation experiment. The NMR spectra were obtained in less than 2 days and allowed the identification of residues of the motor protein involved in nucleotide binding.