NMR in Structural Biology

The volume presents a survey of the research by Kurt Wuethrich and his associates during the period 1965 to 1994. A selection of reprints of original papers on the use of NMR spectroscopy in structural biology is supplemented with an introduction, which outlines the foundations and the historical development of the use of NMR spectroscopy for the determination of three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules in solution. The original papers are presented in groups highlighting protein structure determination by NMR, studies of dynamic properties and hydration of biological macromolecules, and practical applications of the NMR methodology in fields such as enzymology, transcriptional regulation, immunosuppression and protein folding. Kurt Wuthrich's work is focused on the development of experimental techniques for structure determination of biological macromolecules in solution and for studies of molecular dynamics, with applications in protein folding, enzymology, molecular biology and biomedicine. Numerous NMR technical advances have resulted over the years, including the now generally used sinebell filtration, half-filters and other techniques of heteronuclear editing, and, jointly with R.R. Ernst, the introduction and practical implementation of multidimensional NMR for studies of biological macromolecules. These results were presented in two monographs, NMR in Biological Research: Peptides and Proteins (North Holland, 1976), and NMR of Proteins and Nucleic Acids (Wiley, 1986), and in over 450 papers. Besides his research and teaching, Wuthrich has served on numerous committees and journal editorial boards, and received many awards and honorary appointments from all over Europe, USA, India and Japan.