Theoretical chemist’s insights are now embedded into computer software used to predict the behaviour of molecules from pharmaceuticals to construction materials

Healthcare has reached a critical juncture. The World Economic Forum estimates that global medical costs will see double digit increases for the third consecutive year since 2023, with estimates sugge...

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the only biophysical technique capable of characterizing nucleic acid structures at atomic resolution under near-physiological liquid-state conditions. Still, it is fundamentally limited by intrinsically low sensitivity, particularly when analyzing high-molecular-weight, low-abundance, or polymorphic targets, such as DNAs (DNA). In this study, we demonstrate that hyperpolarized aqueous buffers generated via dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (dDNP) significantly enhance the 1H NMR signals of multiple DNA motifs. The resonances of labile imino and amino protons of DNAs dissolved in hyperpolarized buffers are enhanced up to ∼200-fold and ∼370-fold, respectively. These intense signals serve a 2-fold purpose: (i) as structural fingerprints of DNA folding topologies and (ii) they enable the direct observation of low-populated folding intermediates in DNA polymorphs, such as G-quadruplexes (G4) and i-motifs (iM), which remain undetectable by standard methods. Thus, our findings establish hyperpolarized NMR as a high-sensitivity method for probing DNA structures and folding intermediates across a wide range of motifs, opening possible avenues in liquid biopsy applications and cell-free DNA.

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Julien Orts' research group, is seeking to fill a postdoctoral position in Biophysical Chemistry/NMR ...

Researchers have developed a new mathematical strategy that efficiently identifies the essential building blocks of complex systems, dramatically improving computational power for applications ranging...

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YouTube video by Sabine Hossenfelder