14N1H and 2H1H cross-relaxation in hydrated proteins

The frequency dependence of the proton spin-lattice relaxation time T1 of solid hydrated bovine serum albumin and alpha-chymotrypsin has been measured over 4.5 decades in the range 10(4) to 3 X 10(8) Hz mainly by the aid of the field-cycling technique. The comparison between H2O- and D2O-hydrated samples permitted the distinction of exchangeable and unexchangeable protons. In all cases the 14N1H cross-relaxation dips due mainly to the amide groups have been observed. In addition, in the case of the deuterium exchanged proteins a 2H1H quadrupole dip appears. The amide groups act as relaxation sinks due to the coupling of the amide proton to 14N and adjacent protons. Outside of the dip regions the proton-proton coupling dominates. The fluctuations of the 14N1H and 1H1H interactions are of a different type. The unexchangeable protons show a T1 dispersion outside of the quadrupole dip regions given by the exceptional power law T1 approximately v0.75 +/- 0.05. It is shown that apart from structural information of the 14N spectra, 14N1H cross-relaxation spectroscopy permits the determination of correlation times in the range 10(-7) s less than tau less than 10(-4)S.