New Cooperative Ventures

The Bio-NMR-Network-NRW (bio-N3MR) is a cooperative venture between the UDE, the Jülich Research Centre, the Heinrich Heine Universität in Düsseldorf, the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund in the area of NMR-based structural-biological research. With help of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), biologically relevant macromolecules can be analyzed. This work leads to a deeper understanding of biological phenomena on the atomic level.

One of the three high-performance spectrometers with a highly sensitive cryo-sample head was set up on the Essen Campus. This high-end spectrometer permits the precise measurement of proteins.
The new high-resolution spectrometer can be used to perform the following analyses:

• determination of the structure of medium-sized protein molecules
• assessment of the flexibility of specific regions of the protein (dynamics)
• interaction of proteins with ligands; strength and location of the bonds.