¹⁷O Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy of Lipid Membranes

Despite the limitations posed by poor sensitivity, studies have reported the unique advantages of O-17 based NMR spectroscopy to study systems existing in liquid, solid, or semisolid states. O-17 NMR studies have exploited the remarkable sensitivity of quadrupole coupling and chemical shift anisotropy tensors to the local environment in the characterization of a variety of intra- and intermolecular interactions and motion. Recent studies have considerably expanded the use of O-17 NMR to study dynamic intermolecular interactions associated with some of the challenging biological systems under magic angle spinning (MAS) and aligned conditions. The very fast relaxing nature of O-17 has been well utilized in cellular and in vivo MRS (magnetic resonance spectroscopy) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) applications. The main focus of this Review is to highlight the new developments in the biological solids with a detailed discussion for a few selected examples including membrane proteins and nanodiscs. In addition to the unique benefits and limitations, the remaining challenges to overcome, and the impacts of higher magnetic fields and sensitivity enhancement techniques are discussed.