3D accordion spectroscopy for measuring 15N and 13CO relaxation rates in poorly resolved NMR spectra.

An experimental approach for the measurement of nuclear magnetic spin relaxation rate constants that combines triple-resonance techniques and accordion spectroscopy is described. Pulse sequences are discussed for the measurement of backbone 15N and 13CO R1 relaxation rate constants. The three-dimensional HNCO triple-resonance technique is employed to gain improved spectral resolution over conventional two-dimensional methods by frequency labeling both the 15N and 13CO spins. Accordion spectroscopy is used to reduce the dimensionality of the relaxation experiment. The "negative-time accordion" approach (A. M. Mandel and A. G. Palmer (1994), J. Magn. Reson. A 110, 62-72) is used for extracting rate constants from the t1 interferograms. The experiments are demonstrated using a 13C/15N isotopically enriched sample of the third fibronectin type III domain of human tenascin.