NMR Spectroscopy and Spiders – How Helium Recovery Supports Biochemistry Research

The Department of Chemistry of the College of Staten Island, part of The City University of New York, is home to fascinating chemistry and biochemistry research. We had the pleasure of interviewing Associate Professor Sebastien Poget, principal investigator of the Poget Lab, on their research. Professor Poget’s team studies spider toxins, using NMR spectroscopy to carry out research that could lead to the development of improved medicines.

We also discussed the recent installation of two Cryomech HeRL02-RM Helium Reliquefiers at their facility, which help reduce their liquid helium refill costs to zero. You can take a closer look at the installation in the included video.

Uncovering the Functions of Spider Toxins

Biochemistry studies the chemical processes within and related to living organisms. It aims to understand the chemical basis of biological molecules, helping to shed light on the processes within cells, tissues, organs, and overall organism structure and function. Building a deeper understanding of cell function is important because cells are the basic building blocks of all living organisms.

All cells have a membrane that separates them from their neighboring cells or the environment. This separation is crucial for life, but it also creates challenges. Chemicals need to cross the membrane to get in and out of the cell, and the cell needs to ‘communicate’ with its surroundings. Proteins in the membrane handle these tasks by forming transporters, pores, channels, and signal transducers. Studying these membrane proteins and their functions helps us to understand how these interactions take place. This knowledge can be used to develop better functioning medicines, as the way that membrane proteins work is a key aspect of many different medical conditions.

Professor Poget’s lab focuses on understanding a few of these membrane proteins, where they study the proteins and protein tactile interactions. “We work on questions like immunity, membrane protein structure, membrane interactions, etc.,” Sebastien explains.

They are currently studying the interactions of ion channels; pore-forming membrane proteins that allow the flow of specific ions through the membrane. They study how these channels are affected by animal toxins – specifically spider toxins.

Studying how these toxins work and how they interact with ion channels helps to understand how channel activity can be controlled, and helps to discover and develop new tools for this purpose. This knowledge may eventually lead to the development of medicine for epilepsy, cardiac arrhythmias, and pain.

Utilizing NMR Spectroscopy

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) plays an essential role in this research. NMR is a phenomenon that occurs when the nuclei of certain atoms in a strong, constant magnetic field are subjected to a weak oscillating magnetic field. This causes the nucleus to resonate. NMR spectrometers use this phenomenon to determine detailed information about organic compounds. The spectrometers use strong superconducting magnets to create the magnetic fields so that the compounds can be studied under controlled conditions.

The lab uses NMR techniques to study the structure, function, dynamics, and interactions between ion channels and toxins, providing the necessary experimental data for the research. It’s the most heavily used resource of the lab and the basis for essentially all the research in every paper they publish.

In their facility, the team has two NMR spectrometers which Sebastien and his colleagues use to conduct their research: “Our facility has two magnets: a 600-megahertz NMR with a cryoprobe that is mostly used for biomolecular NMR, and a 300-megahertz spectrometer that is mostly used for routine small molecule work, as well as some work on solid-state materials, looking at silica for example.”

NMR Spectroscopy relies heavily on liquid helium, which is crucial for cooling the superconducting magnets. Liquid helium is used to cool down the magnets to the superconducting states at which they are used. However, there was an inherent problem with using liquid helium: evaporation.

“These instruments rely on the superconducting magnets, and for the magnets to remain superconducting they must be submerged in liquid helium, which, over time, evaporates. So, whether you use the instrument or not you have to keep refilling liquid helium to keep in magnet operation,” Sebastien explains.

At the Staten Island facility it was necessary to perform helium refills five to six times per year, at significant cost – so the team started to seek out a cost-effective solution.

Recovering Precious Helium with the HeRL02-RM

Recently, the department installed two Cryomech HeRL02-RM Helium Reliquefiers at their facility. The systems connect directly to the NMR spectrometers and create a closed-loop for the helium. As the helium boils off, it’s passed through a vapor return line to the cryocooler-powered reliquefier, which instantly liquefies the boil-off and returns it to the magnet’s helium bath.

The installation of the reliquefiers has reduced their helium refill costs to zero.

“The installation was very straightforward. We had to do a little bit of preparation work in terms of having the proper tubing set up from one room to another, and installing the electric supplies. But that was essentially everything that we had to do. Then the engineers came in and set everything up within two days, with minimal disruption to our operations. So, it was a very pleasant process altogether,” Sebastien recounts.

With the two HeRL02-RM systems installed, research at The College of Staten Island can continue, with cost savings now being utilized to support the research. Looking ahead, Sebastien is excited for the potential findings from researching tarantula toxins, as he continues the deconstruction and characterization of peptides that affect the researched ion channels.

“One of the sodium channels that we are looking at is involved in the transmission of the pain signal. And we’re finding options from tarantulas that might be candidates to be turned into painkiller drugs without the addictive properties that opioids have,” he says.

Read more about the Cryomech HeRL02-RM Helium Reliquefiers here and contact our sales engineers to start recovering your helium.