The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules
Journal of the Royal Society Interface, ISSN: 1742-5662, Vol: 11, Issue: 100, Page: 20140677
2014
- 74Citations
- 14Usage
- 103Captures
- 2Mentions
Metric Options: CountsSelecting the 1-year or 3-year option will change the metrics count to percentiles, illustrating how an article or review compares to other articles or reviews within the selected time period in the same journal. Selecting the 1-year option compares the metrics against other articles/reviews that were also published in the same calendar year. Selecting the 3-year option compares the metrics against other articles/reviews that were also published in the same calendar year plus the two years prior.
Example: if you select the 1-year option for an article published in 2019 and a metric category shows 90%, that means that the article or review is performing better than 90% of the other articles/reviews published in that journal in 2019. If you select the 3-year option for the same article published in 2019 and the metric category shows 90%, that means that the article or review is performing better than 90% of the other articles/reviews published in that journal in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Citation Benchmarking is provided by Scopus and SciVal and is different from the metrics context provided by PlumX Metrics.
Example: if you select the 1-year option for an article published in 2019 and a metric category shows 90%, that means that the article or review is performing better than 90% of the other articles/reviews published in that journal in 2019. If you select the 3-year option for the same article published in 2019 and the metric category shows 90%, that means that the article or review is performing better than 90% of the other articles/reviews published in that journal in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Citation Benchmarking is provided by Scopus and SciVal and is different from the metrics context provided by PlumX Metrics.
Metrics Details
- Citations74
- Citation Indexes74
- 74
- CrossRef34
- Usage14
- Abstract Views14
- Captures103
- Readers103
- 103
- Mentions2
- References2
- Wikipedia2
Article Description
It was once purported that biological systems were far too 'warm and wet' to support quantum phenomena mainly owing to thermal effects disrupting quantum coherence. However, recent experimental results and theoretical analyses have shown that thermal energy may assist, rather than disrupt, quantum coherent transport, especially in the 'dry' hydrophobic interiors of biomolecules. Specifically, evidence has been accumulating for the necessary involvement of quantum coherent energy transfer between uniquely arranged chromophores in light harvesting photosynthetic complexes. The 'tubulin' subunit proteins, which comprise microtubules, also possess a distinct architecture of chromophores, namely aromatic amino acids, including tryptophan. The geometry and dipolar properties of these aromatics are similar to those found in photosynthetic units indicating that tubulin may support coherent energy transfer. Tubulin aggregated into microtubule geometric lattices may support such energy transfer, which could be important for biological signalling and communication essential to living processes. Here, we perform a computational investigation of energy transfer between chromophoric amino acids in tubulin via dipole excitations coupled to the surrounding thermal environment.We present the spatial structure and energetic properties of the tryptophan residues in the microtubule constituent protein tubulin. Plausibility arguments for the conditions favouring a quantum mechanism of signal propagation along a microtubule are provided. Overall, we find that coherent energy transfer in tubulin and microtubules is biologically feasible.
Bibliographic Details
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84908218634&origin=inward; http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0677; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25232047; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2014.0677; https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/939; https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1957&context=cps_facarticles; https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0677; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsif.2014.0677; http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/100/20140677; http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rsif.2014.0677; http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/100/20140677.abstract; http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/100/20140677.full.pdf; http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/cgi/doi/10.1098/rsif.2014.0677
The Royal Society
Provide Feedback
Have ideas for a new metric? Would you like to see something else here?Let us know