Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Platform of the Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée
Aix-Marseille Université
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility is located at the Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée (IMM) of Aix-Marseille University. The facility is mainly dedicated to the structural determination of biological macromolecules and to the study of their interactions. It is equipped with a Bruker Avance III - 600 MHz spectrometer (superconducting magnet of 14.1 Tesla) equipped with a 5 mm TCI [1H/13C/15N/2H] cryoprobe optimised for the direct detection of proton and carbon-13.
LS1_1 - Macromolecular complexes including interactions involving nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates - Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
LS1_8 - Structural biology - Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies
Structure
interaction and dynamic of biological macromolecules
metabolomics
The platform is open to scientific communities of both the academia and private sectors, upon request. An online process allows potential users to book the equipment in advance.
Into details, the 600MHz NMR spectrometer enables most heteronuclear and multidimensional NMR experiments (in 2D, 3D) to be carried out on biological samples isotopically enriched with nitrogen 15 and/or carbon 13. The cryoprobe significantly increases sensitivity, making it possible to work with low protein concentrations to avoid aggregation for example or to reduce the duration of experiments in the case of unstable proteins.
This technological breakthrough proves to be very useful for metabolomic NMR and makes it possible to observe small quantities of mixture composition (of the order of micro-molar) for the study of biological composites or metabolites.