Radical pairs may explain reactive oxygen species-mediated effects of hypomagnetic field on neurogenesis

TL;DR

This paper proposes a quantum radical pair mechanism involving flavin-superoxide radicals to explain how hypomagnetic fields influence reactive oxygen species production and impair neurogenesis, aligning with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel radical pair model to mechanistically explain hypomagnetic field effects on ROS and neurogenesis, supported by theoretical calculations and predictions.

Findings

Radical pair model predicts effects consistent with experimental data

Singlet-born radical pairs are favored over triplet-born in the model

Predicted magnetic field effects on ROS match observed neurogenesis impairments

Abstract

Exposures to a hypomagnetic field can affect biological processes. Recently, it has been observed that hypomagnetic field exposure can adversely affect adult hippocampal neurogenesis and hippocampus-dependent cognition in mice. In the same study, the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in hypomagnetic field effects has been demonstrated. However, the mechanistic reasons behind this effect are not clear. This study proposes a radical pair mechanism based on a flavin-superoxide radical pair to explain the modulation of ROS production and the attenuation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in a hypomagnetic field. The results of our calculations favor a singlet-born radical pair over a triplet-born radical pair. Our model predicts hypomagnetic field effects on the triplet/singlet yield of comparable strength as the effects observed in experimental studies on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our predictions are also in qualitative agreement with experimental results on superoxide concentration and other observed ROS effects. We also predict the effects of applied magnetic fields and oxygen isotopic substitution on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our findings strengthen the idea that nature might harness quantum resources in the context of the brain.