Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals

Recent studies in vitro and in vivo suggest that flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) on its own might be able to act as a biological magnetic field sensor. Motivated by these observations, in this study, we develop a detailed quantum theoretical model for the radical pair mechanism (RPM) for the flavi...

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Main Authors: Amirhosein Sotoodehfar, Rishabh, Hadi Zadeh-Haghighi, Christoph Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037024004033
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author Amirhosein Sotoodehfar
Rishabh
Hadi Zadeh-Haghighi
Christoph Simon
author_facet Amirhosein Sotoodehfar
Rishabh
Hadi Zadeh-Haghighi
Christoph Simon
author_sort Amirhosein Sotoodehfar
collection DOAJ
description Recent studies in vitro and in vivo suggest that flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) on its own might be able to act as a biological magnetic field sensor. Motivated by these observations, in this study, we develop a detailed quantum theoretical model for the radical pair mechanism (RPM) for the flavin adenine biradical within the FAD molecule. We use the results of existing molecular dynamics simulations to determine the time-varying distance between the radicals on FAD, which we then feed into a quantum master equation treatment of the RPM. In contrast to previous semi-classical models, which are limited to the low-field and high-field cases, our quantum model can predict the full magnetic field dependence of the transient absorption signal. Our model's predictions are consistent with experiments at physiological pH values.
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spelling doaj-art-ebecec60c31642b093b3c7a367e52f952025-08-20T02:52:26ZengElsevierComputational and Structural Biotechnology Journal2001-03702024-12-0126707710.1016/j.csbj.2024.11.032Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicalsAmirhosein Sotoodehfar0 Rishabh1Hadi Zadeh-Haghighi2Christoph Simon3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Corresponding author.Recent studies in vitro and in vivo suggest that flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) on its own might be able to act as a biological magnetic field sensor. Motivated by these observations, in this study, we develop a detailed quantum theoretical model for the radical pair mechanism (RPM) for the flavin adenine biradical within the FAD molecule. We use the results of existing molecular dynamics simulations to determine the time-varying distance between the radicals on FAD, which we then feed into a quantum master equation treatment of the RPM. In contrast to previous semi-classical models, which are limited to the low-field and high-field cases, our quantum model can predict the full magnetic field dependence of the transient absorption signal. Our model's predictions are consistent with experiments at physiological pH values.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037024004033
spellingShingle Amirhosein Sotoodehfar
Rishabh
Hadi Zadeh-Haghighi
Christoph Simon
Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
title Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
title_full Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
title_fullStr Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
title_full_unstemmed Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
title_short Quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor: Radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
title_sort quantum theory of a potential biological magnetic field sensor radical pair mechanism in flavin adenine dinucleotide biradicals
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037024004033
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