High resolution proton magnetic resonance spectral characteristics of water, lipid, and protein signals from three mouse cell populations.

The high resolution proton magnetic resonance spectral properties of three C57BL/6J mouse cell populations (EL4 ascites tumor cells, normal spleen leukocytes, and normal erythrocytes) were investigated. Packed cell pellets were investigated at 100 MHz and 13.56 MHz. The 100-MHz spectra contained identifiable non-water proton resonances as well as the water resonance. The major non-water resonances from the EL 4 cells and normal leukocytes resembled resonances from lipid extracts, whereas the non-water resonances from erythrocytes resembled resonances from hemoglobin solutions. The reciprocals of the water proton spin-lattice relaxation times were roughly proportional to the total sample water content at both 100 and 13.56 MHz. The estimated slopes of these plots were frequency-dependent. The water proton relaxation rate generally increased with increasing total protein content of the packed cell pellets.