Category Archives: Our Publications

These are the scientific articles published by SeRMN personnel. Posts may contain a short description of the research work objective and relevance, in addition to the abstract of the article, the bibliographic reference, and the article DOI if available.

Organic composition in soil studied by solid state NMR

2012-09-14Our Publications13C-NMR, climate change, ecology, soil, solid-state nmrPau

“Changes in soil bacterial community: diversity, composition and function triggered by drought-induced gap succession preceded changes in soil C stocks and quality ” Curiel-Yuste J., Barba J., Fernandez-Gonzalez A.J., Fernandez-Lopez M., Mattana S., Martinez-Vilalta J., Pau Nolis, Lloret F. Ecology and Evolution. Accepted 2012.

We investigated soil bacterial taxonomic composition, soil respiration and soil organic matter quantity and quality in a mixed Mediterranean forest where the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) population is affected by climatic drought-induced die-off, and replaced by Holm-oak (Quercus ilex) populations as the dominant tree species. Continue reading Organic composition in soil studied by solid state NMR →

DMSO as a magnetic resonance contrast agent for brain tumors

2012-09-07Our Publications, Our Researchanimal-model, biomedicine, cancer, contrast-agents, mapping, molecular imaging, MRI, MRS, MRSI, tumorSilvia

“Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a potential contrast agent for brain tumors”, by Delgado-Goñi T, Martín-Sitjar J, Simões RV, Acosta M, Lope-Piedrafita S, Arús C.; NMR in Biomedicine. 2012.DOI: 10.1002/nbm.2832.

Identifying the type of brain tumor helps doctors determine the most appropriate course of treatment. Brain tumor diagnosis usually involves a neurological examination, brain scans, and/or an analysis of the brain tissue. Nowadays, the biopsy, although it is a very invasive procedure, is the most accurate method of obtaining a diagnosis. Continue reading DMSO as a magnetic resonance contrast agent for brain tumors →

Sodium mobility on dry-cured ham studied by T₂ relaxation times

2012-08-27Our Publications23Na-NMR, dry-cured ham, food-science, T2-relaxationPau

“High pressure processing of dry-cured ham: Ultrastructural and molecular changes affecting sodium and water dynamics” Pierre A. Picoueta, Xavier Sala, Núria Garcia-Gila, Pau Nolis, Maddalena Colleo, Teodor Parella, Jacint Arnau. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies. Available online 4 August 2012. DOI: 10.1016/j.ifset.2012.07.008

High pressure processing (HPP) has become a popular method to reduce bacterial load on dry-cured ham. However, HPP processed hams tend to present higher saltiness than non-processed ones. In this study was evaluated the effect of processing Biceps femoris samples of 9 dry-cured hams aged for 15 months at a pressure of 0.1, 300, 600 and 900 MPa. 23Na-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxation values were used to determine the mobility of sodium. Continue reading Sodium mobility on dry-cured ham studied by T₂ relaxation times →

Accurate measurement of small heteronuclear coupling constants from pure-phase α/β HSQMBC cross-peaks

2012-08-01Methods & Applications, Our Publications, Our ResearchHSQMBC, IPAP, proton-carbon coupling constantsSergi

“Accurate measurement of small heteronuclear coupling constants from pure-phase α/β HSQMBC”, by Sergi Gil, Juan Félix Espinosa and Teodor Parella; Journal of Magnetic Resonance 213, 1, 145-150 (2011). DOI:10.1016/j.jmr.2011.09.036

A simple proton-selective α/β-HSQMBC experiment is proposed for the accurate measurement of long-range proton–carbon coupling constants (ⁿJ_CH) in small molecules without need for an individualized and time-consuming post-processing fitting procedure. Continue reading Accurate measurement of small heteronuclear coupling constants from pure-phase α/β HSQMBC cross-peaks →

ECOMETABOLOMICS: Metabolomics in Ecological Studies

2012-05-29Methods & Applications, Our Publications, Our Researchecology, metabolomicsMiriam

“Strong relationship between elemental stoichiometry and metabolome in plants” Albert Rivas-Ubach, Jordi Sardans, Miriam Pérez-Trujillo, Marc Estiarte and Josep Peñuelas. PNAS, February 2012. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1116092109

Shifts in the elemental stoichiometry of organisms in response to their ontogeny and to changing environmental conditions should be related to metabolomic changes because elements operate mostly as parts of molecular compounds. Here we show this relationship in leaves of Erica multiflora throughout their seasonal development and in response to moderate experimental field conditions of drought and warming. Continue reading ECOMETABOLOMICS: Metabolomics in Ecological Studies →

Novel MRI contrast agents: peptide-SPION conjugates

2012-05-21Our Publicationscontrast-agents, molecular imaging, MRI, nanomedicine, nanometric size, nanoparticles, nanotechnology, peptidesSilvia

“Efficient γ-amino-proline-derived cell penetrating peptide-superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle conjugates via aniline-catalyzed oxime chemistry as bimodal imaging nanoagents”, by Cavalli S, Carbajo D, Acosta M, Lope-Piedrafita S, Candiota AP, Arús C, Royo M, Albericio F; Chem. Commun 48 (2012) p. 5322. DOI: 10.1039/C2CC17937G

Recent advances in nanotechnology have offered new opportunities for detection, prevention, and treatment of different diseases. In this respect engineered superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) represent an advanced tool in nanomedicine because they can be loaded in a multiple and orthogonal way with drugs and probes in order to simultaneously act as molecular imaging agents and drug carriers. Continue reading Novel MRI contrast agents: peptide-SPION conjugates →

Cryoprobe: a key tool for the NMR characterization of small amount of peptides

2012-04-29Our Publications19F-NMR, cryoprobe, HMBC, peptidesPau

“Fast cysteine labelling of peptides promoted by an adjacent arginine has been observed with a standard labelling agent specific for amines, N-succinimidyl 4-[18F]fluorobenzoate” Sergio Abad, Pau Nolis, Juan D. Gispert, Jan Spengler, Fernando Albericio, Santiago Rojas and José R. Herance, ChemComm, Volume 48, pages 6118-6120, April 2012. DOI: 10.1039/C2CC32095A

Fast cysteine labelling of peptides promoted by an adjacent arginine has been observed with a standard labelling agent specific for amines, N-succinimidyl 4-[18F]fluorobenzoate. HMBC experiment was the key experiment to corroborate this treat. The small amounts of some peptides herein studied required the sensitivty beneffits of a 500 MHz equipped with TCI cryprobe.

Measurement of the magnitude and the sign of small ⁿJ_CH on protonated and non-protonated carbons

2012-03-26Methods & Applications, Our PublicationsHSQMBC, IPAP, proton-carbon coupling constantsJosep

“A definitive NMR solution for the simple and accurate measurement of the magnitude and the sign of small heteronuclear coupling constants on protonated and non-protonated carbons”, by Josep Saurí, Juan Félix Espinosa and Teodor Parella; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (2012) DOI: 10.1002/anie.201108959

The measurement of long-range proton carbon coupling constants in natural-abundance molecules has always been a tranding topic for the NMR community. Despite the extensive number of NMR techniques that have been developed, there are still remain two unsolved problems pertaining to non-protonated carbons, namely, a) and accurate measurement of very small coupling constants (less than 2-3 Hz) , and b) the absence of a general and robust approach to determine the sign of the coupling. Continue reading Measurement of the magnitude and the sign of small ⁿJ_CH on protonated and non-protonated carbons →

CHIRAL METABONOMICS: Giving Metabonomics a Chiral Dimension

2012-02-20Methods & Applications, Our Publications, Our Researchchirality, enantiodifferentiation, medical research, metabolomics, pharmaceuticalMiriam

“Chiral Metabonomics: 1H NMR-Based Enantiospecific Differentiation of Metabolites in Human Urine via Direct Cosolvation with β-Cyclodextrin” Míriam Pérez-Trujillo, John C. Lindon, Teodor Parella, Hector C. Keun, Jeremy K. Nicholson and Toby J. Athersuch. Analytical Chemistry, February 2012 DOI:10.1021/ac203291d

Differences in molecular chirality remain an important issue in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics for the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory authorities and chirality is an important feature of many endogenous metabolites. We present a 1H NMR-based method for the rapid, direct differentiation and identification of chiral drug enantiomers in human urine without pre-treatment of any kind. Continue reading CHIRAL METABONOMICS: Giving Metabonomics a Chiral Dimension →

HR-MAS: a key technique to study Nanoparticles

2012-01-26Our Publications31P-NMR, aromatic hydrogenation, HRMAS, ligand effect, nanoparticles, ruthenium nanoparticles, surface bound molecules characterizationPau

“Phosphine Stabilized Ruthenium Nanoparticles: the Effect of the Nature of the Ligand in Catalysis” David González-Gálvez, Pau Nolis, Karine Philippot, Bruno Chaudret and Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen. ACS Catalysis, Volume 2, Pages 317-321, January 2012 DOI: 10.1021/cs200633k

Various ligands not forming monometallic complexes were used for Ru nanoparticle stabilization, enabling the control of size, shape and electronic properties. HRMAS NMR spectroscopy allowed us to study surface-bound molecules, evidencing ligand hydrogenation and decomposition of THF during the RuNP synthesis. Continue reading HR-MAS: a key technique to study Nanoparticles →

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