Off-resonance R1p NMR studies of exchange dynamics in proteins with low spin-lock fields:: An application to a fyn SH3 domain

An N-15 NMR R-1rho relaxation experiment is presented for the measurement of millisecond time scale exchange processes in proteins. On- and off-resonance R-1rho relaxation profiles are recorded one residue at a time using a series of one-dimensional experiments in concert with selective Hartmann-Hahn polarization transfers. The experiment can be performed using low spin-lock field strengths (values as low as 25 Hz have been tested), with excellent alignment of magnetization along the effective field achieved. Additionally, suppression of the effects of cross-correlated relaxation between dipolar and Chemical shift anisotropy interactions and H-1-N-15 scalar coupled evolution is straightforward to implement, independent of the strength of the N-15 spin-locking field. The methodology is applied to study the folding of a G48M mutant of the Fyn SH3 domain that has been characterized previously by CPMG dispersion experiments. It is demonstrated through experiment that off-resonance R-1rho data measured at a single magnetic field and one or more spin-lock field strengths, with amplitudes on the order of the rate of exchange, allow a complete characterization of a two-site exchange process. This is possible even in the case of slow exchange on the NMR time scale, where complementary approaches involving CPMG-based experiments fail. Advantages of this methodology in relation to other approaches are described.