Category: Uncategorized

ENZYME QUANTUM TUNNELING. "Researchers have known for several years that in some enzyme-catalysed reactions, protons move from one molecule to another by the quantum-mechanical phenomenon of tunnelling, in which a particle passes through an energy barrier rather than having to muster the energy to climb over it." https://lnkd.in/eDJed9B View in LinkedIn

"ELECTRON TRANSFERS between the proteins of the cellular respiratory chains occur over ca. 10-20 Å and are usually assumed to follow the coherent super-exchange mechanism. When some molecular fragment(s) are susceptible to host the electron (or a hole) transiently on the way to the acceptor (donor) site, multistep (incoherent) hopping is likely to be the dominant mechanism." https://lnkd.in/eMTJFEQ View in LinkedIn

"ENZYMES can employ a weird quantum trick called tunnelling. Simply put, the enzyme encourages a process whereby electrons and protons vanish from one position in a biochemical and instantly rematerialise in another, without visiting any of the in-between places – a kind of teleportation." https://lnkd.in/eYXPebN View in LinkedIn

UNCANNY WATER. "Microtubule nanotubes are found in every living eukaryotic cells; these are formed by reversible polymerization of the tubulin protein, and their hollow fibers are filled with uniquely arranged water molecules. Water channel inside microtubule does a mysterious job that enables microtubules with 40,000 tubulins to demonstrate conductivity 1000 times more than the single tubulin protein." https://lnkd.in/e27q_UB View in LinkedIn

LONG-RANGE. "Experimental data have clearly demonstrated that long-range electron transfer between redox centres in proteins separated by distances of the order of 15–30 Å plays important roles in respiration and photosynthesis." https://lnkd.in/eRUdQZj View in LinkedIn

MITOCHONDRIAL WATER."Distinct electron tunneling pathways between neighboring Fe/S clusters are identified; the pathways primarily consist of two cysteine ligands and one additional key residue. Internal water between protein subunits is identified as an essential mediator enhancing the overall electron transfer rate by almost three orders of magnitude to achieve a physiologically significant value." https://lnkd.in/eVUc77C View in LinkedIn

QUANTUM TUNNELING IN MITOCHONDRIA to make ATP, the currency of life. "NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) plays a central role in the respiratory electron transport chain by coupling the transfer of electrons from NADH to ubiquinone to the creation of the proton gradient across the membrane necessary for ATP synthesis." https://lnkd.in/eVUc77C View in LinkedIn

QUANTUM TUNNELING IN MITOCHONDRIA. "The redox reactions take place in a series of protein complexes in the mitochondrial inner membrane known as the electron transport chain. Recently, it has been demonstrated that electrons are transferred in Complex 1 by quantum tunnelling. This provides a remarkably efficient form of electron transfer." https://lnkd.in/eTtJ_KE View in LinkedIn

HEAT ENGINE. "Biology enriches the repertoire of quantum mechanics so as to include a robust heat engine as a legitimate member of a quantum in addition to the already established member of a quantum including an atom, molecule, and macromolecule." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303264706000220 View in LinkedIn

ORIGIN OF LIFE. "Molecular organizations leading to the origin of the phenomenon of life might have been associated with the emergence of a quantum coherence embodied in a robust heat engine feeding on quantum decoherence. Evolutionary maintenance of a robust quantum heat engine, once appeared, can further be empowered by the build-up of temperature gradients of endogenous origin." https://lnkd.in/efSTqyA View in LinkedIn