Intermolecular double-quantum coherence NMR spectroscopy in moderate inhomogeneous fields

Tracking Metabolite Variations during the Degradation of Vegetables in Rice Bran Bed with Intact-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Fermentation-a process of compound degradation by microorganisms-is a traditional food processing method utilized worldwide for the long-term preservation of fresh foods. In recent years, fermented foods have gained attention as health foods. Fermentation increases the nutritional value of ingredients, producing complex flavors and aromas. To identify unknown components in fermented foods, it is necessary to analyze compounds and conditions nondestructively and comprehensively. We performed intact-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy using intermolecular single quantum coherence (iSQC) to detect the degradation of vegetables directly and nondestructively. We used two types of vegetables and a rice bran bed (nukazuke), which is used for traditional vegetable fermentation in Japan. Major metabolites such as saccharides, organic acids, and amino acids were identified in iSQC-sliced spectra. Comparing NMR signal intensities during degradation revealed the transition of metabolites characteristic of lactic acid fermentation. A pathway-based network analysis showed pathways involved in amino acid metabolism and lactic acid fermentation. Our analytical approach with intact-state NMR spectroscopy using iSQC demonstrated that it may be effective in other experimental systems, allowing for the evaluation of phenomena that have been conventionally overlooked in their true state.

High-resolution two-dimensional J-resolved NMR spectroscopy for biological systems

NMR spectroscopy is a principal tool in metabolomic studies and can, in theory, yield atom-level information critical for understanding biological systems. Nevertheless, NMR investigations on biological tissues generally have to contend with field inhomogeneities originating from variations in macroscopic magnetic susceptibility; these field inhomogeneities broaden spectral lines and thereby obscure metabolite signals. The congestion in one-dimensional NMR spectra of biological tissues often leads to ambiguities in metabolite identification and quantification. We propose an NMR approach based on intermolecular double-quantum coherences to recover high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) J-resolved spectra from inhomogeneous magnetic fields, such as those created by susceptibility variations in intact biological tissues. The proposed method makes it possible to acquire high-resolution 2D J-resolved spectra on intact biological samples without recourse to time-consuming shimming procedures or the use of specialized hardware, such as magic-angle-spinning probes. Separation of chemical shifts and J couplings along two distinct dimensions is achieved, which reduces spectral crowding and increases metabolite specificity. Moreover, the apparent J coupling constants observed are magnified by a factor of 3, facilitating the accurate measurement of small J couplings, which is useful in metabolic analyses. Dramatically improved spectral resolution is demonstrated in our applications of the technique on pig brain tissues. The resulting spectra contain a wealth of chemical shift and J-coupling information that is invaluable for metabolite analyses. A spatially localized experiment applied on an intact fish (Crossocheilus siamensis) reveals the promise of the proposed method in in vivo metabolite studies. Moreover, the proposed method makes few demands on spectrometer hardware and therefore constitutes a convenient and effective manner for metabonomics study of biological systems.

Detection and characterization of intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence NMR signals of IS (I=1/2; S=3/2) spin systems

Intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences (iMQCs) have some intrinsic properties different from conventional single-quantum coherences in solution NMR. In this paper, we extended our study to heteronuclear iMQCs in IS (I=1/2, S=3/2) spin systems. A sample of sodium chloride (NaCl) water solution was taken as an example. Heteronuclear COSY revamped by asymmetric Z-gradient echo detection (CRAZED) experiments were performed. One- and two-dimensional heteronuclear iMQC spectra were obtained. The quantum-mechanical treatment was used to deduce the signal expressions. Magic angle experiments validate that the signals are indeed from intermolecular dipolar interaction and insensitive to the imperfection of radio-frequency (RF) flip angles. Both experimental results and theoretical analysis indicate that heteronuclear CRAZED experiment allows coherence transfer from spin-3/2 nuclei to spin-1/2, and vice verse. Furthermore, the dependences of iMQC signal intensities on RF pulse flip angles follow the same rules as those for heteronuclear IS (I=1/2, S=1/2 or 1) spin systems.

High-resolution 2D NMR spectra in inhomogeneous fields based on intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences with efficient acquisition schemes

High-resolution 2D NMR spectra in inhomogeneous fields can be achieved by the use of intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences and shearing reconstruction of 3D data. However, the long acquisition time of 3D spectral data is generally unbearable for in vivo applications. To overcome this problem, two pulse sequences dubbed as iDH-COSY and iDH-JRES were proposed in this paper. Although 3D acquisition is still required for the new sequences, the high-resolution 2D spectra can be obtained with a relatively short scanning time utilizing the manipulation of indirect evolution period and sparse sampling. The intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence treatment combined with the raising and lowering operators was applied to derive analytical signal expressions for the new sequences. And the experimental observations agree with the theoretical predictions. Our results show that the new sequences possess bright perspective in the applications on in vivo localized NMR spectroscopy.

Intermolecular single-quantum coherence sequences for high-resolution NMR spectra in inhomogeneous fields

A new pulse sequence based on intermolecular single-quantum coherences (iSQCs) is proposed to obtain high-resolution NMR spectroscopy in inhomogeneous magnetic fields via fast 2D acquisition. Taking the intrinsic properties of iSQCs, the sequence is time-efficient with a narrow spectral width in the indirect dimension. It can recover useful information of chemical shifts, relative peak areas, J coupling constants, and multiplet patterns even when the field inhomogeneity is severe enough to erase almost all spectroscopic information. Moreover, good solvent suppression efficiency can be achieved by this sequence even with imperfect radio-frequency pulse flip angles. Spatially localized iSQC spectroscopy was performed on a sample packed with pig brain tissue and cucumber to show the feasibility of the sequence in in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). This sequence may provide a promising way for the applications on in vivo and in situ high-resolution NMR spectroscopy.