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arXiv:1303.1905

Quatum Thermodynamics and the coherence in Ion channels

Samyadeb Bhattacharya, Sisir Roy

Published Mar 8, 2013• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We showed that quantum mechanical superposition can sustain in the process of ion transfer in protein membrane for a substantial period, in spite of the presence of the interactions with environmental modes of molecular vibration. The spectral temperature, as defined in quantum thermodynamical framework plays a significant role in maintaining the coherence. The ratio of decoherence time and dwell time has been calculated, which can be directly related to the degree of coherence. The results shead new light to build quantum information system of entangled ionic states in the voltage gated biological channels.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1303.1905

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We showed that quantum mechanical superposition can sustain in the process of ion transfer in protein membrane for a substantial period, in spite of the presence of the interactions with environmental modes of molecular vibration. The spectral temperature, as defined in quantum thermodynamical framework plays a significant role in maintaining the coherence. The ratio of decoherence time and dwell time has been calculated, which can be directly related to the degree of coherence. The results shead new light to build quantum information system of entangled ionic states in the voltage gated biological channels.
We propose a quantum information scheme that builds on the interference properties of entangled ion states that are transiently confined by local potentials within the permeation path of voltage-gated, ion-conducting membrane proteins. We show, that the sub-molecular organization of parts of the protein, as revealed by the recent progress in high-resolution atomic-level spectroscopy and accompaning molecular dynamics simulations, carries a logical coding potency that goes beyond the pure catalytic function of the channel, subserving the transmembrane crossing of an electrodiffusive barrier. As we argue that 'within channel states' can become super-correlated with the environment , this also sheds new light on the role of noise in controlling the access of ions to voltage-gated ion channels ('channel noise').
ions in the highly conserved KcsA selectivity filter motive of voltage gated ion channels. We first show that the de Broglie wavelength of thermal ions is not much smaller than the periodic structure of Coulomb potentials in the nano-pore model of the selectivity filter. This implies that an ion may no longer be viewed to be at one exact position at a given time but can better be described by a quantum mechanical wave function. Based on first principle methods, we demonstrate solutions of a non-linear Schrödinger model that provide insight into the role of short-lived (~1 ps) coherent ion transition states and attribute an important role to subsequent decoherence and the associated quantum to classical transition for permeating ions. It is found that short coherences are not just beneficial but also necessary to explain the fast-directed permeation of ions through the potential barriers of the filter. Certain aspects of quantum dynamics and non-local effects appear to be indispensable to resolve the discrepancy between potential barrier height, as reported from classical thermodynamics, and experimentally observed transition rates of ions through channel proteins.
Abstract Recently, it has been suggested that ion channel selectivity filter may exhibit quantum coherence, which may be appropriate to explain ion selection and conduction processes. Potassium channels play a vital role in many physiological processes. One of their main physiological functions is the efficient and highly selective transfer of K + ions through the membranes into the cells. To do this, ion channels must be highly selective, allowing only certain ions to pass through the membrane, while preventing the others. The present research is an attempt to investigate the relationship between hopping rate and maintaining coherence in ion channels. Using the Lindblad equation to describe a three-level system, the results in different quantum regimes are examined. We studied the distillable coherence and the second order coherence function of the system. The oscillation of distillable coherence from zero, after the decoherence time, and also the behavior of the coherence function clearly show the point that the system is coherent in ion channels with high throughput rates.
FINDING: Microtubule quantum coherence research suggests biological systems may sustain quantum effects (e.g., superposition, entanglement) at physiological temperatures, challenging decoherence dogma—but the mathematical core remains speculative, with no closed-form equations yet published in the cited sources. | MATH: No explicit equations, constants, or ratios extracted from the video/abstract titles. The arXiv paper (1401.3218) deals with cavity QED ground-state quantum beats—relevant to coherence control, but not directly to microtubules. Key physical parameters implied: decoherence time τ_d, coupling strength g, thermal energy k_BT (~25 meV at 300K), and vibrational mode frequencies of tubulin dimers (~THz range, inferred from protein dynamics). No golden-ratio or base-60 constants appear in the evidence. | CONNECTION: Microtubules are hollow cylinders with 13 protofilaments (a prime number, not crystallographic in the Penrose-tiling sense). However, tubulin dimers arrange in a l Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
There are many controversial and challenging discussions about quantum effects in microscopic structures in neurons of the brain and their role in cognitive processing. In this paper, we focus on a small, nanoscale part of ion channels which is called the "selectivity filter" and plays a key role in the operation of an ion channel. Our results for superposition states of potassium ions indicate that decoherence times are of the order of picoseconds. This decoherence time is not long enough for cognitive processing in the brain, however, it may be adequate for quantum superposition states of ions in the filter to leave their quantum traces on the selectivity filter and action potentials.
It is known that the opening or closing mechanism of a voltage-gated ion channel is triggered by the potential difference across the cell membrane in the nervous system. Based on this picture, we model the ion channel as a nanoscale two-terminal ionic tunneling junction. We apply an external time-varying voltage on the junction to mimic the membrane potential difference in the stimulation of neurons. We derive the non-Markovian quantum Langevin equation from the first principle of quantum mechanics for the ion transport in ion channels, and obtain the ion transport current in terms of quantum tunnelings of ions controlled by the time-varying voltage. We find that the time-varying voltage induces an effective magnetic flux, which causes quantum coherence in ion tunnelings. This effective magnetic flux induces further an oscillatory component to the spectral structure of the ion system, forming a time-dependent quantum memory. Such voltage-induced memory is defined as the active quantum memory, which manifests in the system with a regular oscillatory sideband structure in the ion transport current. The sideband structure demonstrates a multicrossing hysteresis in the current-voltage ( I − V ) curve, responding to the variation of the time-varying voltage (membrane potential difference). We also find that the strength of active quantum memory can be described by the ratio of amplitude and frequency of the time-varying voltage, and can be quantitatively measured through the number of nonzero cross points in the I − V hysteresis and conductance-voltage diagram. Additionally, we explore the temperature dependence of the active quantum memory in such a system. Further, we apply this model to the ion channel system on the biological energy scale. The description of these active quantum memory characteristics provides a quantum mechanical understanding to the underlying mechanism of ion channel dynamics.