Quantum effects in biology: golden rule in enzymes, olfaction, photosynthesis and magnetodetection

Brookes, Jennifer C.

doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0822

Cited by 109 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Following works such as [56], the possibility of quantum mechanical tunneling effects in biological systems has for about 30 years been a significant focus of attention (surveyed in [57]). Evidence for such effects has arisen through detection of such phenomena as the kinetic isotope effect in enzymatic reactions [58], and vibrationally assisted tunneling for classes of proteins [59,60] (see also [61] which underscores the role of amide I vibrational energy).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum tunneling of Davydov solitons through massive barriers

Georgiev

Glazebrook

2019

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals

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Protein clamps provide the cell with effective mechanisms for sensing of environmental changes and triggering adaptations that maintain homeostasis. The general physical mechanism behind protein clamping action, however, is poorly understood. Here, we explore the Davydov model for quantum transport of amide I energy, which is self-trapped in soliton states that propagate along the protein α-helix spines and preserve their shape upon reflection from the α-helix ends. We study computationally whether the Davydov solitons are able to reflect from massive barriers that model the presence of external protein clamps acting on a portion of the α-helix, and characterize the range of barrier conditions for which the Davydov solitons are capable of tunneling through the barrier. The simulations showed that the variability of amino acid masses in proteins has a negligible effect on Davydov soliton dynamics, but a massive barrier that is a hundred times the mass of a single amino acid presents an obstacle for the soliton propagation. The greater width of Davydov solitons stabilizes the soliton upon reflection from such a massive barrier and increases the probability of tunneling through it, whereas the greater isotropy of the exciton-lattice coupling suppresses the tunneling efficiency by increasing the interaction time between the Davydov soliton and the barrier, thereby prolonging the tunneling time through the barrier and enhancing the probability for reflection from the latter. The results as presented, demonstrate the feasibility of Davydov solitons reflecting from or tunneling through massive barriers, and suggest a general physical mechanism underlying the action of protein clamps through local enhancement of an effective protein α-helix mass.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum tunneling of Davydov solitons through massive barriers

Georgiev

Glazebrook

2019

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals

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“…Indeed, in making this contribution to the currently burgeoning science of quantum biology, we are indebted to Schrödinger's astonishing insight which predicted quantum mechanical effects as ubiquitous within living systems [25]. Presently there is evidence of these effects occurring in several cases: photosynthesis (coherence), avian navigation (entanglement), olfaction (tunneling), the kinetic isotope effect in enzymatic reactions (tunneling), as particular instances (reviewed in [26,27]; see also earlier works such as [28][29][30][31]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum transport and utilization of free energy in protein α-helices

Georgiev¹,

Glazebrook

2020

Advances in Quantum Chemistry

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The essential biological processes that sustain life are catalyzed by protein nanoengines, which maintain living systems in far-from-equilibrium ordered states. To investigate energetic processes in proteins, we have analyzed the system of generalized Davydov equations that govern the quantum dynamics of multiple amide I exciton quanta propagating along the hydrogen-bonded peptide groups in α-helices. Computational simulations have confirmed the generation of moving Davydov solitons by applied pulses of amide I energy for protein α-helices of varying length. The stability and mobility of these solitons depended on the uniformity of dipole-dipole coupling between amide I oscillators, and the isotropy of the exciton-phonon interaction. Davydov solitons were also able to quantum tunnel through massive barriers, or to quantum interfere at collision sites. The results presented here support a non-trivial role of quantum effects in biological systems that lies beyond the mechanistic support of covalent bonds as binding agents of macromolecular structures. Quantum tunneling and interference of Davydov solitons provide catalytically active macromolecular protein complexes with a physical mechanism allowing highly efficient transport, delivery, and utilization of free energy, besides the evolutionary mandate of biological order that supports the existence of such genuine quantum phenomena, and may indeed demarcate the quantum boundaries of life.

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“…Our DBA model agrees with the DEA mechanism in terms of resonance electron attachment with formation of the temporary negative ion and its decay by electron detachment, but it should be noted that the DEA mechanism involves an irreversible chemical reaction, i.e., dissociation of the odorant anion. We assume that most of the negatively charged odorants do not dissociate at room temperature in the air, Brookes [70] stated that olfaction does not alter the chemical composition of the odorant. To investigate whether hole transfer or electron transfer dominates the signal transduction in the OR, we also calculated hole transfer spectra for each molecule mentioned in this article with the B3LYP/6-31G method.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Mechanism of Olfactory Recognition at the Initial Stage by Modeling the Emission Spectrum of Electron Transfer

Liu

2019

Preprint

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Olfactory sense remains elusive regarding the primary reception mechanism. Some studies suggest that olfaction is a spectral sense, the olfactory event is triggered by electron transfer (ET) across the odorants at the active sites of odorant receptors (ORs). Herein we present a Donor-Bridge-Acceptor model, proposing that the ET process can be viewed as an electron hopping from the donor molecule to the odorant molecule (Bridge), then hopping off to the acceptor molecule, making the electronic state of the odorant molecule change along with vibrations (vibronic transition). The odorant specific parameter, Huang-Rhys factor can be derived from ab initio calculations, which make the simulation of ET spectra achievable. In this study, we revealed that the emission spectra (after Gaussian convolution) can be acted as odor characteristic spectra. Using the emission spectrum of ET, we were able to reasonably interpret the similar bitter-almond odors among hydrogen cyanide, benzaldehyde and nitrobenzene. In terms of isotope effects, we succeeded in explaining why subjects can easily distinguish cyclopentadecanone from its fully deuterated analogue cyclopentadecanone-d28 but not distinguishing acetophenone from acetophenone-d8.

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Quantum effects in biology: golden rule in enzymes, olfaction, photosynthesis and magnetodetection

Cited by 109 publications

References 97 publications

Quantum tunneling of Davydov solitons through massive barriers

Quantum tunneling of Davydov solitons through massive barriers

Quantum transport and utilization of free energy in protein α-helices

Exploring the Mechanism of Olfactory Recognition at the Initial Stage by Modeling the Emission Spectrum of Electron Transfer

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