A primary goal of biophysics is to gain a quantitative understanding of how biomolecules behave, particularly in their natural environments. For most macromolecules, this is the inside of a cell. The cellular interior, however, is highly complex and dynamic, which makes experimentation in this crowded environment challenging. In-cell nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), a technique introduced in 1975, aims to capture information about the structure, stability, function, and dynamics of biomolecules, in a complex environment.
This image is from the New and Notable article in the November 6 issue of Biophysical Journal. It is an artistic depiction of the history of in-cell protein NMR, a technique that has developed and advanced for decades to capture information about proteins inside living cells.
The artwork is a tribute to the introduction of a variety of different cell types to the technique. The cell types are shown “flying” into a 900-MHz NMR spectrometer and are, from top to bottom, red blood cells, Escherichia coli cells, the cell body of a neuron, and yeast cells. In addition to these cell types, bacteria, particularly Escherichia coli and oocytes, have been popular to use with this technique. The analysis of an isotopically enriched intrinsically disordered protein in budding yeast is the topic of the Wall and Hough article in this issue of the Journal.
The first in-cell protein NMR experiment in 1975 was conducted in red blood cells, followed by fungal cells later in 1975, rat brain cells in 1976, and budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in 1989 and 2018. Although in-cell NMR has been used for decades to study proteins, the frontiers of the technique are still being pushed back well into the new millennium. This image represents the accomplishments of the field thus far and we hope it will inspire advancements of the technique.
The creator of this image, Jhoan Aguilar, is doing undergraduate research in Gary Pielak’s laboratory and somehow finds time to be an artist. Jhoan painted this piece with acrylic and gouache paint on paper. It was then digitally scanned and manipulated using Photoshop.
- Samantha S. Stadmiller, Jhoan Aguilar, Gary J. Pielak