Electron spin resonance in studies of membranes and proteins

We provide a review of current electron spin resonance (ESR) techniques for studying basic molecular mechanisms in membranes and proteins by using nit roxide spin Labels. tn particular, nitroxide spin label studies with high-f ield/high-frequency ESR and two-dimensional Fourier transform ESR enable on e to accurately determine distances in biomolecules, unravel the details of the complex dynamics in proteins. characterize the dynamic structure of me mbrane domains, and discriminate between bulk Lipids and boundary lipids th at coat transmembrane peptides or proteins; these studies can also provide time resolution to studies of functional dynamics of proteins. We illustrat e these capabilities with recent examples.