The application of nuclear magnetic resonance to the study of cellular physiology

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a form of absorption spectroscopy that can noninvasively monitor the intracellular concentration and several kinetic properties of numerous organic and inorganic compounds. Utilizing these characteristics, investigators have demonstrated that NMR is a useful tool in the study of cellular physiology. In this review, the techniques for using NMR to study isolated cells are outlined with suggestions for the determination of cellular viability within the NMR spectrometer. Whenever feasible, cell preparations that are continuously perfused are preferred, because they can be constantly fed and controlled. Results of various NMR experiments on isolated cells using several nuclides are reviewed to highlight the type of information NMR can provide about cellular physiology. Several important differences between NMR and chemical extraction data are noted. The reason for these differences is probably related to the chemical extraction techniques determining the total amount of a compound within the cell in comparison to NMR, which is somewhat more specific, theoretically, detecting only the free species within the cytosol.