Implications of using approximate Bloch-McConnell equations in NMR analyses of chemically exchanging systems: application to the electron self-exchange of plastocyanin.

The validity of a series of approximate solutions of the Bloch-McConnell equations normally applied in the analyses of chemically exchanging systems is evaluated, using the electron self-exchange (ESE) in the blue copper protein plastocyanin from Anabaena variabilis as an example. The evaluation is based on a comparison with the results of a complete analysis of the NMR signals of chemically exchanging nuclei that allows an independent and accurate determination of all the involved parameters. The complete analysis is based on the general solution of the Bloch-McConnell equations. It includes a simultaneous analysis of the chemical shift, and the transverse and longitudinal relaxation rates of the observed nuclei as well as the variation of these parameters with the molar fractions of the exchanging species and the rate of the chemical exchange process. The linear prediction model method was used in the data analysis to achieve the highest possible precision. Surprisingly, it is found that the fast exchange condition may not be fulfilled even in cases where a single exchange-averaged NMR signal is observed, and the Larmor frequency and relaxation rates depend linearly on the molar fractions of the exchanging species. In such cases the use of approximate solutions in the analysis of the transverse relaxation rates and the pseudo-contact shifts can lead to erroneous results. In limiting cases close to the fast exchange and slow exchange regimes correct values of some of the parameters can be obtained using the second order approximate solution of the Bloch-McConnell equations. In contrast, the complete analysis of the NMR signals results in an accurate determination of the exchange rates and the NMR parameters of the exchanging sites. This, in turn, can provide information about the structure and function of a protein undergoing chemically exchange. For the investigated plastocyanin the complete analysis results in an accurate determination of the paramagnetic enhancement of the nuclear relaxation rates, the paramagnetic chemical shift, the electron relaxation rate, the electron self-exchange rate, and the distances between the nuclei and the paramagnetic metal ion, viz. the Cu2+ ion.