Proton and carbon NMR measurements of the effects of hydration on the wheat protein ω-gliadin

The wheat protein ω-gliadin consists of a simple repeat sequence composed mainly of proline and glutamine. It thus represents a simple model for many cereal proteins and other proline and glutamine rich sequences which occur in multiple repeats. The behaviour on hydration has been examined by the measurement of proton NMR relaxation times. Sidechain motions (methyl and amino group rotation, proline ring puckering) were largely responsible for T₁ relaxation. It was found that the glass transition does not affect T₁ and T_1ρ relaxation and only affects transverse relaxation. Magic angle spinning experiments have been used to observe line narrowed proton spectra as well as carbon cross polarisation spectra. In the proton spectra, at high levels of hydration, backbone and sidechain NH groups are observed indicating that whole segments of the protein chain are in the mobile regime. The carbon spectra are characterised by a loss of the proline Cδ signal intensity at high levels of hydration indicating the involvement of proline in the hydration process. It is concluded that the behaviour of ω-gliadin on hydration may be explained by the formation of mobile protein loops together with residual regions of strong interprotein interaction.