Tunable alignment of macromolecules by filamentous phage yields dipolar coupling interactions

Dipolar coupling interactions represent an extremely valuable source of long-range distance and angle information that was previously not available for solution structure determinations of macromolecules. This is because observation of these dipolar coupling data requires creating an anisotropic environment for the macromolecule. Here we introduce a new method for generating tunable degrees of alignment of macromolecules by addition of magnetically aligned Pf1 filamentous bacteriophage as a cosolute. This phage-induced alignment technique has been used to study 1H-1H, 1H-13C, and 1H-15N dipolar coupling interactions in a DNA duplex, an RNA hairpin and several proteins including thioredoxin and apo-calmodulin. The phage allow alignment of macromolecules over a wide range of temperature and solution conditions and thus represent a stable versatile method for generating partially aligned macromolecules in solution.