Nuclear spin effects in biological processes

Ofek Vardi; Naama Maroudas-Sklare; Yuval Kolodny; Artem Volosniev; Amijai Saragovi; Nir Galili; Stav Ferrera; Areg Ghazaryan; Nir Yuran; Hagit P. Affek; Yonaton Goldsmith; Nir Keren; Shira Yochelis; Itay Halevy; Mikhail Lemeshko; Yossi Paltiel

doi:10.1073/pnas.2300828120

Nuclear spin effects in biological processes

Ofek Vardi, Naama Maroudas-Sklare, Yuval Kolodny, Artem Volosniev, Amijai Saragovi, Nir Galili, Stav Ferrera, Areg Ghazaryan, Nir Yuran, Hagit P. Affek, Yonaton Goldsmith, Nir Keren, Shira Yochelis, Itay Halevy, Mikhail Lemeshko, Yossi Paltiel

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Weizmann Institute of Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Traditionally, nuclear spin is not considered to affect biological processes. Recently, this has changed as isotopic fractionation that deviates from classical mass dependence was reported both in vitro and in vivo. In these cases, the isotopic effect correlates with the nuclear magnetic spin. Here, we show nuclear spin effects using stable oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, and 18O) in two separate setups: an artificial dioxygen production system and biological aquaporin channels in cells. We observe that oxygen dynamics in chiral environments (in particular its transport) depend on nuclear spin, suggesting future applications for controlled isotope separation to be used, for instance, in NMR. To demonstrate the mechanism behind our findings, we formulate theoretical models based on a nuclear-spin-enhanced switch between electronic spin states. Accounting for the role of nuclear spin in biology can provide insights into the role of quantum effects in living systems and help inspire the development of future biotechnology solutions.

Original language	American English
Article number	e2300828120
Pages (from-to)	e2300828120
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	120
Issue number	32
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300828120
State	Published - 8 Aug 2023

Keywords

aquaporin
electrolysis
isotope
nuclear spin
spin-statistics

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

General

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10.1073/pnas.2300828120

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Vardi, O., Maroudas-Sklare, N., Kolodny, Y., Volosniev, A., Saragovi, A., Galili, N., Ferrera, S., Ghazaryan, A., Yuran, N., Affek, H. P., Goldsmith, Y., Keren, N., Yochelis, S., Halevy, I., Lemeshko, M., & Paltiel, Y. (2023). Nuclear spin effects in biological processes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(32), e2300828120. Article e2300828120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300828120

@article{f0627233c36348ff98a42e957c6ee8de,

title = "Nuclear spin effects in biological processes",

abstract = "Traditionally, nuclear spin is not considered to affect biological processes. Recently, this has changed as isotopic fractionation that deviates from classical mass dependence was reported both in vitro and in vivo. In these cases, the isotopic effect correlates with the nuclear magnetic spin. Here, we show nuclear spin effects using stable oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, and 18O) in two separate setups: an artificial dioxygen production system and biological aquaporin channels in cells. We observe that oxygen dynamics in chiral environments (in particular its transport) depend on nuclear spin, suggesting future applications for controlled isotope separation to be used, for instance, in NMR. To demonstrate the mechanism behind our findings, we formulate theoretical models based on a nuclear-spin-enhanced switch between electronic spin states. Accounting for the role of nuclear spin in biology can provide insights into the role of quantum effects in living systems and help inspire the development of future biotechnology solutions.",

keywords = "aquaporin, electrolysis, isotope, nuclear spin, spin-statistics",

author = "Ofek Vardi and Naama Maroudas-Sklare and Yuval Kolodny and Artem Volosniev and Amijai Saragovi and Nir Galili and Stav Ferrera and Areg Ghazaryan and Nir Yuran and Affek, {Hagit P.} and Yonaton Goldsmith and Nir Keren and Shira Yochelis and Itay Halevy and Mikhail Lemeshko and Yossi Paltiel",

note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. N.M.-S. acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Energy, Israel, as part of the scholarship program for graduate students in the fields of energy. M.L. acknowledges support by the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant No. 801770 (ANGULON). Y.P. acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Israel Grant No. 1001593872. Y.P acknowledges the support of the BSF-NSF 094 Grant No. 2022503. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 the Author(s).",

year = "2023",

month = aug,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2300828120",

language = "American English",

volume = "120",

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journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

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Vardi, O, Maroudas-Sklare, N, Kolodny, Y, Volosniev, A, Saragovi, A, Galili, N, Ferrera, S, Ghazaryan, A, Yuran, N, Affek, HP , Goldsmith, Y , Keren, N , Yochelis, S , Halevy, I, Lemeshko, M & Paltiel, Y 2023, 'Nuclear spin effects in biological processes', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 120, no. 32, e2300828120, pp. e2300828120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300828120

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nuclear spin effects in biological processes

AU - Vardi, Ofek

AU - Maroudas-Sklare, Naama

AU - Kolodny, Yuval

AU - Volosniev, Artem

AU - Saragovi, Amijai

AU - Galili, Nir

AU - Ferrera, Stav

AU - Ghazaryan, Areg

AU - Yuran, Nir

AU - Affek, Hagit P.

AU - Goldsmith, Yonaton

AU - Keren, Nir

AU - Yochelis, Shira

AU - Halevy, Itay

AU - Lemeshko, Mikhail

AU - Paltiel, Yossi

N1 - Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. N.M.-S. acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Energy, Israel, as part of the scholarship program for graduate students in the fields of energy. M.L. acknowledges support by the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant No. 801770 (ANGULON). Y.P. acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Israel Grant No. 1001593872. Y.P acknowledges the support of the BSF-NSF 094 Grant No. 2022503. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 the Author(s).

PY - 2023/8/8

Y1 - 2023/8/8

N2 - Traditionally, nuclear spin is not considered to affect biological processes. Recently, this has changed as isotopic fractionation that deviates from classical mass dependence was reported both in vitro and in vivo. In these cases, the isotopic effect correlates with the nuclear magnetic spin. Here, we show nuclear spin effects using stable oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, and 18O) in two separate setups: an artificial dioxygen production system and biological aquaporin channels in cells. We observe that oxygen dynamics in chiral environments (in particular its transport) depend on nuclear spin, suggesting future applications for controlled isotope separation to be used, for instance, in NMR. To demonstrate the mechanism behind our findings, we formulate theoretical models based on a nuclear-spin-enhanced switch between electronic spin states. Accounting for the role of nuclear spin in biology can provide insights into the role of quantum effects in living systems and help inspire the development of future biotechnology solutions.

AB - Traditionally, nuclear spin is not considered to affect biological processes. Recently, this has changed as isotopic fractionation that deviates from classical mass dependence was reported both in vitro and in vivo. In these cases, the isotopic effect correlates with the nuclear magnetic spin. Here, we show nuclear spin effects using stable oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, and 18O) in two separate setups: an artificial dioxygen production system and biological aquaporin channels in cells. We observe that oxygen dynamics in chiral environments (in particular its transport) depend on nuclear spin, suggesting future applications for controlled isotope separation to be used, for instance, in NMR. To demonstrate the mechanism behind our findings, we formulate theoretical models based on a nuclear-spin-enhanced switch between electronic spin states. Accounting for the role of nuclear spin in biology can provide insights into the role of quantum effects in living systems and help inspire the development of future biotechnology solutions.

KW - aquaporin

KW - electrolysis

KW - isotope

KW - nuclear spin

KW - spin-statistics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166393502&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2300828120

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2300828120

M3 - Article

C2 - 37523549

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 120

SP - e2300828120

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 32

M1 - e2300828120

ER -

Nuclear spin effects in biological processes

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Keywords

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