1 GHz NMR spectrometer (23.5 T).
Console AVANCE NEO and ASCEND EVO magnet
Bruker's 1 GHz (1000 MHz) NMR spectrometer, the first equipment of its kind in Spain and one of the first in Europe, has also been integrated into the Barcelona node of the ICTS R-LRB (Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures of the Ministry of Science and Innovation) and the Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructure Network (ISBIN). This new team, like the high-field teams currently existing at ICTS, are open to the entire scientific community through competitive open access. Unique MRI equipment such as this one represents the first commercial application of this new technology that is expected to revolutionize many other aspects of our lives, such as the transport and generation of electricity by renewable energies, or the availability of cheaper and more accessible medical magnetic resonance imaging devices.
Features of the equipment
The equipment is equipped with helium-cooled cryo-probes to further increase sensitivity. The installation carried out in the CCITUB also takes into account the sustainability of all the equipment of the NMR Unit in the PCB and has allowed the incorporation of a system for the recovery and reuse of liquid helium used to maintain the superconductivity of all the equipment.
In order to be able to process the enormous amount of information generated by the ICTS equipment, the facility plans to incorporate a comprehensive management system that allows the data obtained to be efficiently processed.
Applications of technology
At high magnetic fields, a significant gain in sensitivity is achieved, which allows proteins to be studied at much lower concentrations than with current equipment. These high magnetic fields (23 T, 522,222 times higher than the Earth's magnetic field) require a new technology based on high-temperature superconductors. Catalonia is home to one of the most important centres in the world in this field.
The resolution increases with the magnetic field and this gain is especially important for the study of globular proteins and complex oligonucleotides and especially proteins with disordered regions. These proteins represent 2/3 of human proteins and about 80% of proteins in which their malfunction is related to cancers, neurodegenerative diseases or metabolic disorders. Many of the viral proteins, such as those that make up SARS-Cov2, have disordered regions.
Among the planned applications, in addition to those already discussed in disordered proteins, is the study of interactions between drugs and their targets. An expanding field is the study of antibodies that can act as biosimilars to existing drugs by obtaining their high ordered structure information (HOS) by MRI. Indeed, the high sensitivity and dispersion of the signals provided by 23.5 T allows the study, control and safety of biosimilars in a non-invasive way at the atomic scale.
Beyond biomedical applications, having such powerful magnetic fields opens up possibilities for applications in many other fields of chemistry and physics. In the field of Structural Biology, this new facility will generate synergies with other unique initiatives in Catalonia, such as the electron microscopy facilities and the Alba synchrotron, making Barcelona a unique international benchmark in Southern Europe.
Funding
The team has been 100% funded with funds from the European NextGeneration program through a specific call for ICTS that has made it possible to finance the actions that had been included in the strategic plan, evaluated by an international committee and approved in 2018. The funding obtained has also covered the complementary actions for their installation and operation in optimal conditions, therefore including the costs of adapting the spaces and the adaptation to carry out a program to manage the data generated by the NMR equipment. It is also necessary to take into account the obtaining of financing for a device for the recovery and reuse of liquid helium from the evaporation of the equipment, which allows savings in energy and natural resources.
The request has had the support of 49 institutions, research groups and companies from all over Spain.
Location
The equipment is installed in the NMR laboratory of the CCiTUB located in the Parc Científic de Barcelona, in the unique building specifically designed to locate very high field MRI equipment. Within the University of Barcelona, this team is managed by the Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona, and is part of the Barcelona node of the distributed ICTS NMR (R-LRB) together with the other nodes in Bilbao and Madrid. The team is also part of the Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructure Network (ISBIN), which integrates several large-scale research infrastructures in Spain with the aim of promoting Integrative Structural Biology in southern Europe.
* Images courtesy of Dr. Miquel Pons (UB professor and scientific coordinator of the Barcelona node of the ICTS R-LRB).