Burd Shaun C, Bagheri Nahal, Ingaramo Maria, Condon Alec F, Mondal Samsuzzoha, Dowlatshahi Dara P, Summers Jacob A, Mukherjee Srijit, York Andrew G, Wakatsuki Soichi, Boxer Steven G, Kasevich Mark
Department of Physics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, 94305, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Palo Alto, 94305, USA.
bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 3:2025.02.27.640669. doi: 10.1101/2025.02.27.640669.
Radio-frequency (RF) magnetic fields can influence reactions involving spin-correlated radical pairs. This provides a mechanism by which RF fields can influence living systems at the biomolecular level. Here we report the modification of the emission of various red fluorescent proteins (RFPs), in the presence of a flavin cofactor, induced by a combination of static and RF magnetic fields. Resonance features in the protein fluorescence intensity were observed near the electron spin resonance frequency at the corresponding static magnetic field strength. This effect was measured at room temperature both in vitro and in the nematode , genetically modified to express the RFP mScarlet. These observations suggest that the magnetic field effects measured in RFP-flavin systems are due to quantum-correlated radical pairs. Our experiments demonstrate that RF magnetic fields can influence dynamics of reactions involving RFPs in biologically relevant conditions, and even within a living animal. These results have implications for the development of a new class of genetic tools based on RF manipulation of genetically-encoded quantum systems.
射频（RF）磁场可影响涉及自旋相关自由基对的反应。这提供了一种机制，通过该机制射频场可在生物分子水平上影响生命系统。在此，我们报告了在黄素辅因子存在的情况下，静态磁场和射频磁场共同作用诱导的各种红色荧光蛋白（RFP）发射的改变。在相应静态磁场强度下，在电子自旋共振频率附近观察到了蛋白质荧光强度的共振特征。在室温下，无论是在体外还是在经过基因改造以表达RFP mScarlet的线虫体内，都测量到了这种效应。这些观察结果表明，在RFP-黄素系统中测量到的磁场效应是由于量子相关自由基对引起的。我们的实验表明，射频磁场可在生物学相关条件下，甚至在活体动物体内影响涉及RFP的反应动力学。这些结果对基于射频操纵基因编码量子系统的新型遗传工具的开发具有启示意义。
