Department of Applied Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Aug 8;120(32):e2300828120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2300828120. Epub 2023 Jul 31.
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 (O, O, and O) 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.
传统上，核自旋被认为不会影响生物过程。最近，这种情况发生了变化，因为在体外和体内都报道了偏离经典质量依赖性的同位素分馏现象。在这些情况下，同位素效应与核磁自旋相关。在这里，我们使用两种不同的设置展示了稳定氧同位素（O、O 和 O）的核自旋效应：一个人工氧气产生系统和细胞中的生物水通道。我们观察到手性环境中的氧气动力学（特别是其传输）取决于核自旋，这表明未来可以将受控同位素分离应用于例如 NMR 中。为了证明我们发现背后的机制，我们基于核自旋增强的电子自旋态之间的转换，建立了理论模型。考虑到核自旋在生物学中的作用，可以深入了解量子效应对生命系统的作用，并有助于激发未来生物技术解决方案的发展。
