In the Spring of 2013, NMR spectroscopists convened at the Weizmann Institute in Israel to brainstorm on approaches to improve the sensitivity of NMR experiments, particularly when applied in biomolecular settings. This multi‐author interdisciplinary Review presents a state‐of‐the‐art description of the primary approaches that were considered. Topics discussed included the future of ultrahigh‐field NMR systems, emerging NMR detection technologies, new approaches to nuclear hyperpolarization, and progress in sample preparation. All of these are orthogonal efforts, whose gains could multiply and thereby enhance the sensitivity of solid‐ and liquid‐state experiments. While substantial advances have been made in all these areas, numerous challenges remain in the quest of endowing NMR spectroscopy with the sensitivity that has characterized forms of spectroscopies based on electrical or optical measurements. These challenges, and the ways by which scientists and engineers are striving to solve them, are also addressed.

The conformational space sampled by the two-domain protein calmodulin has been explored by an approach based on four sets of NMR observables obtained on Tb ³⁺ - and Tm ³⁺ -substituted proteins. The observables are the pseudocontact shifts and residual dipolar couplings of the C-terminal domain when lanthanide substitution is at the N-terminal domain. Each set of observables provides independent information on the conformations experienced by the molecule. It is found that not all sterically allowed conformations are equally populated. Taking the N-terminal domain as the reference, the C-terminal domain preferentially resides in a region of space inscribed in a wide elliptical cone. The axis of the cone is tilted by ≈30° with respect to the direction of the N-terminal part of the interdomain helix, which is known to have a flexible central part in solution. The C-terminal domain also undergoes rotation about the axis defined by the C-terminal part of the interdomain helix. Neither the extended helix conformation initially observed in the solid state for free calcium calmodulin nor the closed conformation(s) adopted by calcium calmodulin either alone or in its adduct(s) with target peptide(s) is among the most preferred ones. These findings are unique, both in terms of structural information obtained on a biomolecule that samples multiple conformations and in terms of the approach developed to achieve the results. The same approach is in principle applicable to other multidomain proteins, as well as to multiple interaction modes between two macromolecular partners.

Zinc(II) plays a vital role in normal cellular function as an essential component of numerous enzymes, transcription factors, and synaptic vesicles. While zinc can be linked to a variety of physiological processes, the mechanisms of its cellular actions are less discernible. Here, we have synthesized and tested a Zn(II)-activated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent in which the coordination geometry of the complex rearranges upon binding of Zn(II). In the absence of Zn(II) water is restricted from binding to a chelated Gd(III) ion by coordinating acetate arms resulting in a low relaxivity of 2.33 mM ⁻¹ ·s ⁻¹ at 60 MHz. Upon addition of Zn(II) the relaxivity of the Gd(III)–Zn(II) complex increases to 5.07 mM ⁻¹ ·s ⁻¹ and is consistent with one water molecule bound to Gd(III). These results were confirmed by nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion analysis. There was no observed change in relaxivity of the Gd(III) complex when physiologically competing cations Ca(II) and Mg(II) were added. A competitive binding assay gave a dissociation constant of 2.38 × 10 ⁻⁴ M for the Gd(III)–Zn(II) complex. In vitro magnetic resonance images confirm that Zn(II) concentrations as low as 100 μM can be detected by using this contrast agent.