Advances in EPR Approaches for Studying Structural Properties of Membrane Proteins

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in connection with site-directed spin labeling is a structural biology tool that can be employed to obtain structural and conformational properties of various biological systems. Recent advances in methodological and technical improvements have made EPR spectroscopy a rapidly growing tool for gleaning important structural and conformational dynamics of membrane proteins. In this review, we discuss advancements in the popular site-directed spin labeling EPR approaches in brief and their applications to study the structure and conformations of biologically important membrane proteins. Recent examples of electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM), double electron-electron resonance (DEER), and In-cell EPR studies for addressing structural and conformational-related questions of membrane proteins will be highlighted.