Leif Schrder1, Jagoda Sloniec2, Christopher Witte1, Ute Resch-Genger2, Andreas Hennig2
1Leibniz-Institut fr Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin, Germany; 2Bundesanstalt fr Materialforschung und -prfung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
Hyperpolarized xenon is a powerful NMR probe with both high sensitivity and specificity. It has been applied recently to reveal different intracellular NMR signatures of various cell lines. Here, we present a complementary method to detect different NMR signatures of functionalized xenon that partitions into membranes with negligible translocation. Exposing such sensors to various well defined biomembrane models yield very different z-spectra acquired with the Hyper-CEST method. This approach is sensitive to xenon exchange dynamics reflected by the CEST response. It therefore provides access to the related differences in membrane fluidity and could be used to reveal cell identity.