Goren Naama, Pandurangan Perumal, Eisenberg-Domovich Yael, Yochelis Shira, Keren Nir, Ansermet Jean-Philippe, Naaman Ron, Livnah Oded, Ashkenasy Nurit, Paltiel Yossi
Department of Applied Physics, Center for nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.
Department of Materials Engineering, Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 May 13;122(19):e2500584122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2500584122. Epub 2025 May 8.
Proton transport plays a fundamental role in many biological and chemical systems. In life, proton transport is crucial for biochemical and physiological functions. It is usually accepted that the main mechanism of proton transfer is a result of hopping between neighboring water molecules and amino acid side chains. It was recently suggested that the proton transfer can be simultaneously coupled with electron transfer. As life is homochiral, proton transfer in biology is occurring in a chiral environment. In this environment, the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect relating to electron transfer and chirality is expected to occur. The present work establishes that the proton transfer is coupled to a specific electron spin polarization in lysozyme crystals, associating proton transfer to electron movement and polarization. To preserve total angular momentum, this motion may be coupled to chiral phonons that propagate in the crystal. Our work shows that the interaction of the electrons' spin and phonons is very significant in proton transfer through lysosome crystals. Injecting the opposite electron spin into the lysosome crystal results in a significant change in proton transfer impedance. This study presents the support for the proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism and indicates the importance of spin polarization in the process.
质子传输在许多生物和化学系统中起着基础性作用。在生命过程中，质子传输对于生物化学和生理功能至关重要。通常认为，质子转移的主要机制是相邻水分子和氨基酸侧链之间跳跃的结果。最近有人提出，质子转移可以与电子转移同时发生耦合。由于生命是手性的，生物学中的质子转移发生在手性环境中。在这种环境下，预计会出现与电子转移和手性相关的手性诱导自旋选择性效应。目前的工作证实，在溶菌酶晶体中质子转移与特定的电子自旋极化相耦合，将质子转移与电子运动和极化联系起来。为了保持总角动量，这种运动可能与在晶体中传播的手性声子相耦合。我们的工作表明，电子自旋与声子的相互作用在质子通过溶酶体晶体的传输过程中非常重要。向溶酶体晶体中注入相反的电子自旋会导致质子转移阻抗发生显著变化。这项研究为质子耦合电子转移机制提供了支持，并表明了自旋极化在该过程中的重要性。
