Accurate Structure and Dynamics of the Metal-Site of Paramagnetic Metalloproteins from NMR Parameters Using Natural Bond Orbitals

[Image: see text] A natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis of unpaired electron spin density in metalloproteins is presented, which allows a fast and robust calculation of paramagnetic NMR parameters. Approximately 90% of the unpaired electron spin density occupies metal–ligand NBOs, allowing the majority of the density to be modeled by only a few NBOs that reflect the chemical bonding environment. We show that the paramagnetic relaxation rate of protons can be calculated accurately using only the metal–ligand NBOs and that these rates are in good agreement with corresponding rates measured experimentally. This holds, in particular, for protons of ligand residues where the point-dipole approximation breaks down. To describe the paramagnetic relaxation of heavy nuclei, also the electron spin density in the local orbitals must be taken into account. Geometric distance restraints for (15)N can be derived from the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement and the Fermi contact shift when local NBOs are included in the analysis. Thus, the NBO approach allows us to include experimental paramagnetic NMR parameters of (15)N nuclei as restraints in a structure optimization protocol. We performed a molecular dynamics simulation and structure determination of oxidized rubredoxin using the experimentally obtained paramagnetic NMR parameters of (15)N. The corresponding structures obtained are in good agreement with the crystal structure of rubredoxin. Thus, the NBO approach allows an accurate description of the geometric structure and the dynamics of metalloproteins, when NMR parameters are available of nuclei in the immediate vicinity of the metal-site.