Zhengfeng Zhang

Understanding the High Photocatalytic Activity of (B, Ag)-Codoped TiO2 under Solar-Light Irradiation with XPS, Solid-State NMR, and DFT Calculations

The origin of the exceptionally high activity of (B, Ag)-codoped TiO(2) catalysts under solar-light irradiation has been investigated by XPS and (11)B solid-state NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. XPS experimental results demonstrated that a portion of the dopant Ag (Ag(3+)) ions were implanted into the crystalline lattice of (B, Ag)-codoped TiO(2) and were in close proximity to the interstitial B (B(int.)) sites, forming [B(int.)-O-Ag] structural units. In situ XPS experiments were employed to follow the evolution of the chemical states of the B and Ag dopants during UV-vis irradiation. It was found that the [B(int.)-O-Ag] units could trap the photoinduced electron to form a unique intermediate structure in the (B, Ag)-codoped TiO(2) during the irradiation, which is responsible for the photoinduced shifts of the B 1s and Ag 3d peaks observed in the in situ XPS spectra. Solid-state NMR experiments including (11)B triple-quantum and double-quantum magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR revealed that up to six different boron species were present in the catalysts and only the tricoordinated interstitial boron (T*) species was in close proximity to the substitutional Ag species, leading to formation of [T*-O-Ag] structural units. Furthermore, as demonstrated by DFT calculations, the [T*-O-Ag] structural units were responsible for trapping the photoinduced electrons, which prolongs the life of the photoinduced charge carriers and eventually leads to a remarkable enhancement in the photocatalytic activity. All these unprecedented findings are expected to be crucial for understanding the roles of B and Ag dopants and their synergistic effect in numerous titania-mediated photocatalytic reactions.

Magic Angle Spinning NMR Structure Determination of Proteins from Pseudocontact Shifts

Magic angle spinning solid-state NMR is a unique technique to study atomic-resolution structure of biomacromolecules which resist crystallization or are too large to study by solution NMR techniques. However, difficulties in obtaining sufficient number of long-range distance restraints using dipolar coupling based spectra hamper the process of structure determination of proteins in solid-state NMR. In this study it is shown that high-resolution structure of proteins in solid phase can be determined without the use of traditional dipolar-dipolar coupling based distance restraints by combining the measurements of pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) with Rosetta calculations. The PCSs were generated by chelating exogenous paramagnetic metal ions to a tag 4-mercaptomethyl-dipicolinic acid, which is covalently attached to different residue sites in a 56-residue immunoglobulin-binding domain of protein G (GB1). The long-range structural restraints with metal-nucleus distance of up to ∼20 Å are quantitatively extracted from experimentally observed PCSs, and these are in good agreement with the distances back-calculated using an X-ray structure model. Moreover, we demonstrate that using several paramagnetic ions with varied paramagnetic susceptibilities as well as the introduction of paramagnetic labels at different sites can dramatically increase the number of long-range restraints and cover different regions of the protein. The structure generated from solid-state NMR PCSs restraints combined with Rosetta calculations has 0.7 Å root-mean-square deviation relative to X-ray structure.

The Molecular Structure of Alzheimer β‐Amyloid Fibrils Formed in the Presence of Phospholipid Vesicles

β-amyloid (Aβ) fibrils are the major species involved in Alzheimers disease (AD). An atomic-resolution molecular structure of Aβ40 fibrils formed in the presence of lipid vesicles was obtained by using magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The fibril structures formed in the presence of the lipid vesicles are remarkably different from those formed in solution. These results provide insights into the molecular mechanism of Aβ aggregation in the presence of lipid vesicles.

Covariance spectroscopy with a non-uniform and consecutive acquisition scheme for signal enhancement of the NMR experiments

Two-dimensional covariance (COV2D) spectroscopy with non-uniform and consecutive acquisition (NUCA) scheme is introduced. This NUCA-COV2D method allows the number of t(1) points to be reduced by a factor of 1.5-3 without any broadening of the linewidth. Furthermore, the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) can be increased up to 50%, which can further save experimental time by another factor of 2. This method has been demonstrated with model samples and the microcrystalline proteins. In all cases, the total experimental time can be reduced by a factor of 3-6, without any loss of resolution and S/N, with respect to what is necessary with the FT2D NMR.

Conformation and Topology of Diacylglycerol Kinase in E.coli Membranes Revealed by Solid‐state NMR Spectroscopy

Solid-state NMR is a powerful tool for studying membrane proteins in a native-like lipid environment. 3D magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR was employed to characterize the structure of E.coli diacylglycerol kinase (DAGK) reconstituted into its native E.coli lipid membranes. The secondary structure and topology of DAGK revealed by solid-state NMR are different from those determined by solution-state NMR and X-ray crystallography. This study provides a good example for demonstrating the influence of membrane environments on the structure of membrane proteins.

Asymmetric simultaneous phase-inversion cross-polarization in solid-state MAS NMR: relaxing selective polarization transfer condition between two dilute spins.

Double cross polarization (DCP) has been widely used for heteronuclear polarization transfer between (13)C and (15)N in solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR. However, DCP is such sensitive to experimental settings that small variations or deviations in RF fields would deteriorate its efficiency. Here, we report on asymmetric simultaneous phase-inversion cross polarization (referred as aSPICP) for selective polarization transfer between low-γ (13)C and (15)N spins. We have demonstrated through simulations and experiments using biological solids that the asymmetric duration in the simultaneous phase-inversion cross polarization scheme leads to efficient polarization transfer between (13)C and (15)N even with large chemical shift anisotropies in the presence of B1 field variations or mismatch of the Hartmann-Hahn conditions. This could be very useful in the aspect of long-duration experiments for membrane protein studies at high fields.

Gating Mechanism of Aquaporin Z in Synthetic Bilayers and Native Membranes Revealed by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

Aquaporin Z (AqpZ) is an integral membrane protein that facilitates transport of water across Escherichia coli cells with a high rate. Previously, R189, a highly conserved residue of the selective filter of AqpZ, was proposed as a gate within the water channel on the basis of the observation of both open and closed conformations of its side chain in different monomers of an X-ray structure, and the observation of rapid switches between the two conformations in molecular dynamic simulations. However, the gating mechanism of the R189 side chain remains controversial since it is unclear whether the different conformations observed in the X-ray structure is due to different functional states or is a result of perturbation of non-native detergent environments. Herein, in native-like synthetic bilayers and native E. coli membranes, a number of solid-state NMR techniques are employed to examine gating mechanism of the R189 side chain of AqpZ. One R189 side-chain conformation is highly evident since only a set of peaks corresponding to the R189 side chain is observed in 2D 15N-13C spectra. The immobility of the R189 side chain is detected by 1H-15N dipolar lineshapes, excluding the possibility of the rapid switches between the two side-chain conformations. High-resolution monomeric structure of AqpZ, determined by CS-Rosetta calculations using experimentally measured distance restraints related to the R189 side chain, reveals that this side chain is in an open conformation, which is further verified by its water accessibility. All the solid-state NMR experimental results, combining with water permeability essay, suggest a permanently open conformation of the R189 side chain in the synthetic bilayer and native membranes. This study provides new structural insights into the gating mechanism of aquaporins and highlights the significance of lipid bilayer environments in elucidating the molecular mechanism of membrane proteins.

Solid-state NMR chemical shift assignments of aquaporin Z in lipid bilayers

Aquaporin Z is the first identified prokaryotic water channel in Escherichia coli with a high water permeability and strict substrate selectivity. Here we report nearly complete (94% of amino acid residues) 13C and 15N chemical shift assignments of AqpZ reconstituted in the lipid bilayers using a set of 2D and 3D magic angle spinning solid-state NMR spectra. Secondary structure of AqpZ predicted from chemical shift assignments is generally similar to that of X-ray structure with a number of differences in loop and near-loop regions. The BMRB accession number of the assignments is 27244.

Interactions between amyloid β peptide and lipid membranes

The presence of amyloid plaques in the brain is a typical characteristic of Alzheimers disease (AD). Amyloid plaques are formed from the deposits of aggregated amyloid β peptide (Aβ). The toxicity induced by Aβ aggregates is correlated with Aβ-membrane interactions. The mutual influences between aggregation and membranes are complicated and unclear. In recent years advanced experiments and findings are emerging to give us more detailed information on Aβ-membrane interactions. In this review, we mainly focus on the Aβ-membrane interactions and membrane-induced Aβ structures. The mechanism of Aβ-membrane interactions is also summarized, which provides insights into the prevention and treatment of AD.

Heating and temperature gradients of lipid bilayer samples induced by RF irradiation in MAS solid-state NMR experiments.

The MAS solid‐state NMR has been a powerful technique for studying membrane proteins within the native‐like lipid bilayer environment. In general, RF irradiation in MAS NMR experiments can heat and potentially destroy expensive membrane protein samples. However, under practical MAS NMR experimental conditions, detailed characterization of RF heating effect of lipid bilayer samples is still lacking. Herein, using 1H chemical shift of water for temperature calibration, we systematically study the dependence of RF heating on hydration levels and salt concentrations of three lipids in MAS NMR experiments. Under practical 1H decoupling conditions used in biological MAS NMR experiments, three lipids show different dependence of RF heating on hydration levels as well as salt concentrations, which are closely associated with the properties of lipids. The maximum temperature elevation of about 10 °C is similar for the three lipids containing 200% hydration, which is much lower than that in static solid‐state NMR experiments. The RF heating due to salt is observed to be less than that due to hydration, with a maximum temperature elevation of less than 4 °C in the hydrated samples containing 120 mmol l−1 of salt. Upon RF irradiation, the temperature gradient across the sample is observed to be greatly increased up to 20 °C, as demonstrated by the remarkable broadening of 1H signal of water. Based on detailed characterization of RF heating effect, we demonstrate that RF heating and temperature gradient can be significantly reduced by decreasing the hydration levels of lipid bilayer samples from 200% to 30%. Copyright