Nanometric distance measurements between Mn(ii)DOTA centers

Pulse electron–electron double resonance (PELDOR) is a versatile technique for probing the structures and functions of complex biological systems. Despite the recent interest in high-spin metal-ions for high field/frequency applications, PELDOR measurements of Mn(II) remain relatively underexplored. Here we present Mn(II)–Mn(II) PELDOR distance measurements at 94 GHz on polyproline II (PPII) helices doubly spin-labeled with Mn(II)DOTA, which are distinguished by their small zero-field interaction. The measured Mn–Mn distances and distribution profiles were in good agreement with the expected values from molecular models. Additional features in the frequency-domain spectra became apparent at certain combinations of detect and pump frequencies. Spin-Hamiltonian calculations showed that they likely arose from contributions from the pseudo-secular component of the dipolar interaction that were found to be non-negligible for Mn(II)DOTA. However, the influence of the pseudo-secular component on the distance distribution profiles apparently was limited. The results show the potential of Mn(II)DOTA spin labels for high-field PELDOR distance measurements in proteins and other biological systems.