• The arrangement of anisotropic...

Treffer: The arrangement of anisotropic spin couplings can optimize sensitivity of the cryptochrome radical pair to the direction of geomagnetic field.

Title:
The arrangement of anisotropic spin couplings can optimize sensitivity of the cryptochrome radical pair to the direction of geomagnetic field.
Authors:
Bezchastnov V; Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. victor.beschastnov@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de., Domratcheva T; Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 119991.
Source:
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2026 Jan 13; Vol. 16 (1), pp. 1961. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jan 13.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101563288 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2045-2322 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20452322 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Rep Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Original Publication: London : Nature Publishing Group, copyright 2011-
MeSH Terms:
Cryptochromes*/chemistry , Cryptochromes*/metabolism , Magnetic Fields*, Anisotropy ; Free Radicals/chemistry
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Substance Nomenclature:
0 (Cryptochromes)
0 (Free Radicals)
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20260113 Date Completed: 20260114 Latest Revision: 20260117
Update Code:
20260117
PubMed Central ID:
PMC12805005
DOI:
10.1038/s41598-025-32180-x
PMID:
41530235
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

Sensing of the geomagnetic field direction by many living organisms is commonly thought to involve radical pairs, such as those formed photochemically between the flavin and tryptophan radicals in the cryptochrome proteins. Previous theoretical studies have shown that strongly axial hyperfine couplings in the cryptochrome radicals greatly enhance the formation of a signaling state of the protein when the magnetic field is directed perpendicular to the hyperfine axis of either of the radicals. However, further analysis led to the conclusion that sharpness of detecting those magnetic directions is strongly suppressed by the inter-radical electron spin coupling. Here, we perform theoretical simulations of the compass function for a set of arrangements of the intra- and inter-radical spin couplings in the idealized cryptochrome radical pair, and find certain arrangements that preserve the sharpness in detecting the direction of the geomagnetic field. One particular arrangement, with the hyperfine axes of the radicals orthogonal to the symmetry axis of inter-radical coupling, provides even sharper field-direction sensitivity than that contributed solely by the anisotropy of the hyperfine coupling.
(© 2025. The Author(s).)

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.