In the spectrum of uniformly 15N labeled cytochrome c3, the relative linewidths of the doublet peaks of the 15N-coupled imido proton of the coordinated imidazole group were reversed on oxidation. This inversion was explained by the interference relaxation process between the electron-proton dipolar and 15N-1H dipolear interactions. The inversion can be used to assign the imido protons of the coordinated imidazole groups in heme proteins.