Pushing NMR sensitivity limits using dynamic nuclear polarization with closed-loop cryogenic helium sample spinning.

We report a strategy to push the limits of solid-state NMR sensitivity far beyond its current state-of-the-art. The approach relies on the use of dynamic nuclear polarization and demonstrates unprecedented DNP enhancement factors for experiments performed at sample temperatures much lower than 100 K, and can translate into 6 orders of magnitude of experimental time-savings. This leap-forward was made possible thanks to the employment of cryogenic helium as the gas to power magic angle sample spinning (MAS) for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhanced NMR experiments. These experimental conditions far exceed what is currently possible and allows currently reaching sample temperatures down to 30 K while conducting experiments with improved resolution (thanks to faster spinning frequencies, up to 25 kHz) and highly polarized nuclear spins. The impressive associated gains were used to hyperpolarize the surface of an industrial catalyst as well as to hyperpolarize organic nano-assemblies (self-assembling peptides in our case), for whom structures cannot be solved using diffraction techniques. Sustainable cryogenic helium sample spinning significantly enlarges the realm and possibilities of the MAS-DNP technique and is the route to transform NMR into a versatile but also sensitive atomic-level characterization tool.

Questioning the Pathogenic Role of the GLA p.Ala143Thr "Mutation" in Fabry Disease: Implications for Screening Studies and ERT.

Fabry disease is an X-linked inborn error of glycosphingolipid metabolism caused by quantitative or qualitative defects in the lysosomal enzyme alfa-Galactosidase A (aGAL A), ultimately resulting in vital organ dysfunction. Mainly the kidneys, the heart, and the central nervous system are involved. While the classical phenotype of Fabry disease is readily recognizable, screening studies have identified clinical variants. Here, we report the phenotype associated with the GLA p.Ala143Thr (c.427G>A) mutation in 12 patients aged 42-83 years. None of the patients had classical Fabry signs or symptoms as angiokeratoma, hypohidrosis, acroparesthesia, or cornea verticillata. Possible Fabry manifestations were renal failure (5/12), stroke (7/12), and left ventricular hypertrophy (5/12), but these were not necessarily attributable to the p.Ala143Thr mutation, as a cardiac biopsy in one female and left ventricular hypertrophy and kidney biopsies in two males with renal failure and microalbuminuria lacked Gb-3 deposits. The literature data on this mutation as well as data collected in the Fabry Outcome Survey (FOS) database confirm these findings. The association of renal failure, stroke, and left ventricular hypertrophy with this mutation could be the result of selection bias, as most patients were detected in screening studies.We conclude that care should be taken with attribution of vital organ dysfunction to GLA sequence alterations. In case of the p.Ala143Thr mutation, and possibly also other mutations associated with an attenuated phenotype, diagnostic tools such as biopsy and imaging should critically evaluate the relation of end-organ failure with Fabry disease, as this has important consequences for enzyme replacement therapy.

Transverse dephasing optimized solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

It is shown how coherence lifetimes in solid-state NMR experiments can be controlled. New decoupling schemes are introduced which actively optimize dephasing times, providing increases of up to a factor of 2 with respect to the best existing schemes. The new schemes are implemented in transverse-dephasing-optimized (TDOP) NMR experiments for the disorded solid cellulose, and for a microcrystalline protein, where sensitivity improvements of up to a factor of 5 are obtained.