Invited perspectives in physiological zoology Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and its applications in comparative physiology
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abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, a technique originally developed by physicists and used for many years by chemists, has more recently become a powerful tool far the noninvasive and nondestructive study of intracellular biochemistry. Comparative physiologists have, to some extent, lagged behind biomedical scientists in their application of this method to questions of comparative interest, but that too is changing as the strengths and weaknesses of NMR become more widely known and access to appropriate instruments becomes available. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra provide information about the identity and amounts of many of the most important chemical components of living systems. Phosphorus-31 is the nucleus most frequently used in biological NMR studies, making possible noninvasive measurement of intracellular pH and providing direct access to phosphorus metabolism via determination of levels of inorganic phosphate and of high-energy phosphate in phosphocreatine and ATP. Other nuclei of importance to physiologists include 1H (for imaging, lactic acid measurements, cell oxygenation state), 23Na (for measurement of intracellular Na+), 39K (for measurement of intracellular K+), 13C (for determination of glycolytic intermediates and carbon flux), and 19F (for measurement of intracellular Ca2+). In this article we have provided a discussion of the general principles of NMR, examined the advantages and disadvantages of the technique as applied to physiological problems, and given examples of some of the past and current applications of NMR in comparative physiology. Finally, we have mentioned some new and innovative NMR methods (including NMR microscopy) and suggested some possible future uses for this new technology in our field.
