An NMR View of Protein Dynamics in Health and Disease

Abstract

Biological molecules are often highly dynamic, and this flexibility can be critical for function. The large range of sampled timescales and the fact that many of the conformers that are continually explored are only transiently formed and sparsely populated challenge current biophysical approaches. Solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful method for characterizing biomolecular dynamics in detail, even in cases where excursions involve short-lived states. Here, we briefly review a number of NMR experiments for studies of biomolecular dynamics on the microsecond-to-second timescale and focus on applications to protein and nucleic acid systems that clearly illustrate the functional relevance of motion in both health and disease.

Keywords: NMR spin relaxation; conformationally excited states; dynamics direct molecular function and misfunction; functional biomolecular dynamics.