The electric quadrupole moment of the deuterium nucleus provides a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe of electric field gradients, and thereby of organization of tissue water. 8-17% of H(2)O in rat muscle and brain was replaced by D(2)O from 50% deuterated drinking water. The peak height of the steady-state NMR spectrum of D in muscle water was 74% lower than that of an equal concentration of D(2)O in liquid water. Longitudinal NMR relaxation times (T(1)) of D in water of muscle and brain averaged 0.092 and 0.131 sec, respectively, compared with 0.47 sec in D(2)O in liquid water. Transverse NMR relaxation times (T(2)) averaged 0.009 and 0.022 sec in D(2)O of muscle and brain, respectively, compared with 0.45 sec in D(2)O in liquid water. These differences cannot be explained by paramagnetic ions or by magnetic inhomogeneities, which leaves increased organization of tissue water as the only tenable hypothesis. Evidence was also obtained that 27% of muscle water and 13% of brain water exist as a separate fraction with T(2) of D(2)O less than 2 x 10(-3) sec, which implies an even higher degree of structure. Each of the two fractions may consist of multiple subfractions of differing structure.

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The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of Na + is suitable for qualitative and quantitative analysis of Na + in tissues. The width of the N M R spectrum is dependent upon the environment surrounding the individual Na + ion. N M R spectra of fresh muscle compared with spectra of the same samples after ashing show that approximately 70 % of total muscle Na + gives no detectable N M R spectrum. This is probably due to complexation of Na + with macromolecules, which causes the N M R spectrum to be broadened beyond detection. A similar effect has been observed when Na + interacts with ion exchange resin. N M R also indicates that about 60 % of Na + of kidney and brain is complexed. Destruction of cell structure of muscle by homogenization little alters the per cent complexing of Na +. N M R studies show that Na + is complexed by actomyosin, which may be the molecular site of complexation of some Na + in muscle. The same studies indicate that the solubility of Na + in the interstitial water of actomyosin gel is markedly reduced compared with its solubility in liquid water, which suggests that the water in the gel is organized into an icelike state by the nearby actomyosin molecules. If a major fraction of intraceUular Na + exists in a complexed state, then major revisions in most theoretical treatments of equilibria, diffusion, and transport of cellular Na + become appropriate. I N T R O D U C T I O NMost investigators have assumed t h a t the N a + of the cell was largely in free solution in intracellular water. T h e opposite conclusion was d r a w n f r o m the application of a kinetic theory of Cope (1) to V a n der Kloot's d a t a (2) on N a +

When a major portion of the intracellular K(+) in frog muscle is reversibly replaced by Na(+), the extra Na(+) gained by the cells does not show the nuclear magnetic resonance signal that free Na(+) does. The data contradict the membrane theory but are in accord with the concept that the bulk of intracellular K(+) is adsorbed.

All Rights Reserved of to ABSTRACT. The evidence for solid state physical processes in diverse biological systems is reviewed. Semiconduction of electrons across the enzyme particles as the rate-limiting process in cytochrome oxidase is evidenced by the peculiar kinetic patterns of this enzyme and by microwave Hall effect measurements. PN junction conduction of electrons is suggested by kinetics of photobiological free radicals in eye and photosynthesis.Superconduction at physiological temperatures may be involved in growth and nerve. Phonons and polarons seem likely to be involved in mitochondrial phosphorylation.Piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity may be involved in growth and nerve. Infrared electromagnetic waves may transmit energy in lipid bilayers of nerve and mitochondria. Complexed sodium and potassium ions in structured cell water may be analogous to valence band electrons in a semiconductor, and the free cations may be considered analogous to conduction band electrons. Ionic processes in cell water therefore resemble electronic conduction processes in solid semiconductors, which leads to kinetic predictions in agreement with experiment. The future of solid state biology depends on the development of new experimental methods able to measure solid state physical properties in biological materials which are noncrystalline, impure, particulate, and wet.