Statistical Amplification of the Effects of Weak Magnetic Fields in Cellular Translation

Cells. 2023 Feb 24;12(5):724. doi: 10.3390/cells12050724.

Abstract

We assume that the enzymatic processes of recognition of amino acids and their addition to the synthesized molecule in cellular translation include the formation of intermediate pairs of radicals with spin-correlated electrons. The mathematical model presented describes the changes in the probability of incorrectly synthesized molecules in response to a change in the external weak magnetic field. A relatively high chance of errors has been shown to arise from the statistical enhancement of the low probability of local incorporation errors. This statistical mechanism does not require a long thermal relaxation time of electron spins of about 1 μs-a conjecture often used to match theoretical models of magnetoreception with experiments. The statistical mechanism allows for experimental verification by testing the usual Radical Pair Mechanism properties. In addition, this mechanism localizes the site where magnetic effects originate, the ribosome, which makes it possible to verify it by biochemical methods. This mechanism predicts a random nature of the nonspecific effects caused by weak and hypomagnetic fields and agrees with the diversity of biological responses to a weak magnetic field.

Keywords: biological effect of magnetic field; geomagnetic field; incorporation error; protein translation; ribosome; the RPM.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids*
  • Electrons
  • Magnetic Fields*
  • Magnetics

Substances

  • Amino Acids

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-22-00951, https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-22-00951, accessed on 20 February 2023.