Carnosine as molecular probe for sensitive detection of Cu(II) ions using localized 1H NMR spectroscopy

Complex formation of carnosine (Csn) with Cu(II) is suspected to be of significant biochemical importance and can be detected by NMR via ion-induced paramagnetic relaxation of Csn signals. Here, we present quantification of the sensitivity achieved with localized 1H NMR spectroscopy at physiological pH and high ligand-to-metal ratios. While characterizing the highly effective relaxation transfer onto a huge Csn pool due to fast ligand exchange, it is demonstrated that a metal-to-ligand ratio of ∼100 ppm suffices to reduce Csn signals by ∼50% in vitro, thus making the dipeptide a sensitive probe for such ions. Variation of the donor accessibility reveals that the paramagnetic effect is transferred onto a ∼1370-fold donor abundance for a given ion concentration. A method is presented to characterize such effective ligand exchange relaxation transfer. These studies focus on the monomer formation since comparison with 1H NMR data of human calf muscle demonstrates that the dimer complex is insignificant in vivo. Observed line broadening in living tissue yields an upper limit of ca. 195 ppm for the Csn-related copper concentration in human skeletal muscle.