# Q-band Upgrade to an X-band Pulsed EPR spectrometer

> **NIH NIH S10** · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2021 · $920,209

## Abstract

Summary.
 A continuous wave and pulsed electron paramagnetic (EPR) spectrometer operating at 34 GHz
(Q-band) is requested by investigators at MIT Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, Harvard
Chemistry and Brandeis Biochemistry. The instrument’s capabilities include pulsed ENDOR and
ELDOR. The primary motivation for the Q-band instrument is the much improved sensitivity and
resolution available at 34 GHz as compared to our current X-band (9 GHz) spectrometer. This
improved sensitivity and resolution will permit us to address many problems which at the moment
are beyond our scientific reach. The instrument will complement high-end X-ray crystallography,
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and cryoelectron microscope (cryoEM) capabilities in the
Boston area to enable multidisciplinary structural biology and mechanistic biochemistry
investigations of questions that are of great biological and medical importance. Research projects
from six major user groups (Griffin, Nocera, Nolan, Pandelia, Raines, and Suess) and those from
another three minor groups (Betley Keissling, and Wagner) are included in the proposal.
 The instrument will advance the following health-related research: 1) ENDOR and ESSEM studies
of reactive intermediates in radical SAM enzymes, metalloenzymes involved in human immunity, and
polynuclear Fe complexes that mimic the nitrogenase FeMo-cofactor; 2) pulsed EPR/DNP methods
aimed at developing methods to dynamically polarize proteins at high fields and 3) DEER studies
of membrane and soluble proteins, collagen, and polysaccharide secondary structure;. We
anticipate that further projects targeting membrane proteins important for example in neurological
disease and anesthesia; and viral and bacterial proteins important in infectious disease will appear
during the lifetime of the spectrometer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10177244
- **Project number:** 1S10OD028706-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** ROBERT Guy GRIFFIN
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $920,209
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-15 → 2024-07-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10177244

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10177244, Q-band Upgrade to an X-band Pulsed EPR spectrometer (1S10OD028706-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10177244. Licensed CC0.

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