ASILOMAR, Calif., April 8, 2019
/PRNewswire/ -- At the 60th Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Conference (ENC, www.enc-conference.org ), Bruker announced today a
breakthrough in ultra-high field (UHF) high-resolution NMR
spectroscopy applied to structural biology and the study of
functional intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). UHF NMR
is complementary to other structural biology methods like X-ray
crystallography or cryo-EM by providing structurally-resolved
molecular dynamics, as well as functional folding, interactome and
drug binding information in solution and at physiological
conditions.
Bruker has successfully energized the world's first stable and
homogeneous standard-bore Ascend 1.1 GHz NMR magnet
in late 2018. This magnet has been developed to address the
scientific requirements for increased sensitivity and higher
resolution in order to study larger proteins, functional disorder,
and macromolecular complexes. In recent months, Bruker
and some of its key UHF collaborators have demonstrated the power
and advantages of this leading-edge technology in a series of
high-resolution and solid-state NMR experiments at Bruker's Swiss
GHz-class magnet factory.
For many years, high-resolution NMR was limited to a magnetic
field of 23.5 Tesla, equivalent to a 1H resonance
frequency of 1.0 GHz. This limit was set by the physical
properties of metallic, low-temperature superconductors (LTS), and
it was first reached in 2009 with an Avance®
1000 spectrometer at the Ultra-High Field NMR Center in
Lyon, France.
High-temperature superconductors (HTS), first discovered in the
1980s, open the door towards even higher magnetic fields at low
temperatures, but considerable challenges in YBCO HTS tape
manufacturing and in superconducting magnet technology made further
UHF progress daunting until recently. Bruker's novel
high-resolution 1.1 GHz magnet achievement now demonstrates the
viability of new LTS-HTS hybrid magnet technologies with enormous
technological progress in the areas of HTS materials manufacturing,
testing and tape jointing, as well as in UHF magnet stabilization,
homogenization, quench protection and force management.
"This record-breaking 25.9 Tesla NMR spectrometer is a showcase
of our technological capabilities in the area of LTS-HTS hybrid
superconducting magnets, and also in the areas of UHF NMR probe and
spectrometer development," said Dr. Falko
Busse, Group President of Bruker BioSpin. "Bruker is proud
to once again provide a new frequency NMR instrument to the
life-science research community to push the frontiers in
biochemistry, structural biology and material science. This 1.1 GHz
system is also a key milestone towards the first 1.2 GHz NMR
magnets that we have in development."
Professors Lucia Banci and
Claudio Luchinat at the Magnetic Resonance Center and Department of
Chemistry at the University of Florence in Italy are long-standing partners in Bruker's
UHF project and are expected to receive the world's first
high-resolution 1.2 GHz spectrometer. After performing experiments
on the 1.1 GHz system, they stated: "We appreciate this important
milestone in UHF NMR. The 1.1 GHz results we achieved at this
new field strength with a 3 mm TCI CryoProbe are a spectacular step
forward, as they enable us to study intrinsically disordered
proteins in more detail at atomic resolution levels. The data we
recorded at 1.1 GHz highlight the benefits of performing NMR
experiments at ultra-high fields, and we look forward to the next
step at 1.2 GHz."
"We are truly impressed with Bruker's UHF magnet technology,
which we were able to test in conjunction with a 111 kHz
magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid state NMR probe. The clearly
improved sensitivity will be a key feature for biological and
biomedical research, e.g. for protein complexes and Alzheimer-beta
fibrils," commented Professor Beat
Meier of the ETH Zürich, another future 1.2 GHz customer.
Professor Matthias Ernst from ETH
continued: "The sensitivity of this new instrument is impressive
and will enable new applications in the area of proton-detected
fast MAS experiments. The homogeneity of this new class of
HTS-based magnets – which had been a concern in the community – is
impeccable and meets our stringent requirements."
Dr. Christian Griesinger,
Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for
Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, observed: "In combination with the
static X-ray structure, this 1.1 GHz data quantitatively explains
the FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer) efficiency for the
first time . This quantification is now a firm basis for
developers of sensors to further optimize calcium-sensors which are
essential to measure calcium concentrations in neurons with
spatially resolved fluorescence and therefore a tool in
neurobiology. We are looking forward to receiving our 1.2 GHz
spectrometer, which we will use for our current projects on
characterizing droplets and oligomers of intrinsically disordered
proteins that are the key players in many diseases, such as
neurodegeneration and cancer. These important disordered systems
currently cannot be studied at Angstrom resolution with other
methods in structural biology, such as X-ray crystallography or
cryo-EM."
Dr. Charalampos Kalodimos, Chair
of the Structural Biology Department at St. Jude's Children
Research Hospital in Memphis,
Tennessee, is expected to receive the world's first 1.1 GHz
NMR spectrometer, once all factory tests have been completed. He
added: "We look forward to receiving the first 1.1 GHz NMR
spectrometer in our institution later this year. The 1.1 GHz system
will be our most important tool to perform research in the area of
dynamic molecular machines, such as molecular chaperones and
protein kinases. We commend Bruker on this impressive technological
achievement."
Bruker also announced today that it has received an additional
purchase order for a 1.2 GHz NMR system from Professors
Hartmut Oschkinat and Adam Lange from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut
for Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin,
Germany. Bruker now has received orders for a total of nine
1.2 GHz NMR spectrometers, so far all in Europe.
About Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR)
Bruker is enabling scientists to make breakthrough discoveries
and develop new applications that improve the quality of human
life. Bruker's high-performance scientific instruments and
high-value analytical and diagnostic solutions enable scientists to
explore life and materials at molecular, cellular and microscopic
levels. In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling
innovation, improved productivity and customer success in life
science molecular research, in applied and pharma applications, in
microscopy and nanoanalysis, and in industrial applications, as
well as in cell biology, preclinical imaging, clinical phenomics
and proteomics research and clinical microbiology. For more
information, please visit: www.bruker.com.
Media Contact:
Thorsten
Thiel, Ph.D.
Bruker BioSpin VP of Group Marketing
T: +49 (721) 5161–6500
E: thorsten.thiel@bruker.com
Investor Contact:
Pamela
Clark
Investor Relations
Bruker Corporation
T: +1 (978) 663-3660, ext. 1479
E: Investor.Relations@bruker.com
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