Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of biological systems

The difference between intracellular and extracellular proton relaxation rates provides the basis for the determination of the mean hemoglobin concentration (MHC) in red blood cells. The observed water T1 relaxation data from red blood cell samples under various conditions were fit to the complete equation for the time-dependent decay of magnetization for a two-compartment system including chemical exchange. The MHC for each sample was calculated from the hematocrit and the intracellular water fraction as determined by NMR. The binding of the phosphorylcholine (PC) analogue, 2-(trimethylphosphonio)-ethylphosphate (phosphoryl-phosphocholine, PPC) to the PC binding myeloma proteins TEPC-15, McPC 603, and MOPC 167 was studied by 31P NMR