dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaOn the Biological Advantage of Chirality
| Authors | G. Gilat |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/9911041 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9911041 |
Abstract
The presence of chirality in the main molecules of life may well be not just a structural artifact, but of pure biological advantage. The possibility of the existence of a phenomenon of a special mode of interaction, labeled as "chiral interaction" (CI), for which structural chirality is a necessary condition, is the main reason for such an advantage. In order to demonstrate such a possibility, macroscopic chiral devices are introduced and presented as analogies for such an interaction. For this purpose it is important to make a clear distinction between geometric and physical chiralities, where the latter are capable to perform chiral interactions with various media. Apart from chirality, a few other structural elements are required. In particular, the presence of an interface that separates between the chiral device and the medium with which it is interacting. The physical chirality is build into this very interface where chiral interaction is taking place. On a molecular level, soluble proteins in particular, the active medium is the presence of random ionic motion in the aqueous solvent. As a result of chiral interaction a certain perturbation, or current, is generated and flowing along the coils of $ \alpha$-helix structure in one preferred direction out of two possible ones. A model for such a chiral interaction is presented and a few significant consequences are pointed out. In particular, it is important to emphasize the time-irreversible feature of chiral interaction, which leads to its non-ergodic nature that is to be considered a necessary condition for evolutionary processes in biomolecules. There exists an experimental result by Careri et al. who found a clear linkage between the free protonic motion in the hydration layer of protein s and their enzymatic activity.
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"abstract": "The presence of chirality in the main molecules of life may well be not just\na structural artifact, but of pure biological advantage. The possibility of the\nexistence of a phenomenon of a special mode of interaction, labeled as \"chiral\ninteraction\" (CI), for which structural chirality is a necessary condition, is\nthe main reason for such an advantage. In order to demonstrate such a\npossibility, macroscopic chiral devices are introduced and presented as\nanalogies for such an interaction. For this purpose it is important to make a\nclear distinction between geometric and physical chiralities, where the latter\nare capable to perform chiral interactions with various media. Apart from\nchirality, a few other structural elements are required. In particular, the\npresence of an interface that separates between the chiral device and the\nmedium with which it is interacting. The physical chirality is build into this\nvery interface where chiral interaction is taking place. On a molecular level,\nsoluble proteins in particular, the active medium is the presence of random\nionic motion in the aqueous solvent. As a result of chiral interaction a\ncertain perturbation, or current, is generated and flowing along the coils of $\n\\alpha$-helix structure in one preferred direction out of two possible ones. A\nmodel for such a chiral interaction is presented and a few significant\nconsequences are pointed out. In particular, it is important to emphasize the\ntime-irreversible feature of chiral interaction, which leads to its non-ergodic\nnature that is to be considered a necessary condition for evolutionary\nprocesses in biomolecules. There exists an experimental result by Careri et al.\nwho found a clear linkage between the free protonic motion in the hydration\nlayer of protein s and their enzymatic activity.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/9911041",
"authors": [
"G. Gilat"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"q-bio"
],
"title": "On the Biological Advantage of Chirality",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9911041"
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