Radical triads, not pairs, may explain effects of hypomagnetic fields on neurogenesis

TL;DR

This paper proposes a radical triad model with secondary scavenging reactions to explain how hypomagnetic fields affect neurogenesis, addressing weaknesses in previous radical pair models and aligning better with known chemistry.

Contribution

It introduces a radical triad mechanism with scavenging reactions as a novel explanation for hypomagnetic field effects on neurogenesis, overcoming limitations of prior radical pair models.

Findings

Radical triad model can explain hypomagnetic effects without unnatural assumptions

Secondary scavenging reactions are key to the proposed mechanism

Addresses weaknesses of previous radical pair models

Abstract

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis and hippocampus-dependent cognition in mice have been found to be adversely affected by hypomagnetic field exposure. The effect concurred with a reduction of reactive oxygen species in the absence of the geomagnetic field. A recent theoretic study suggests a mechanistic interpretation of this phenomenon in the framework of the Radical Pair Mechanism. According to this model, a flavin-superoxide radical pair, born in the singlet spin configuration, undergoes magnetic field-dependent spin dynamics such that the pair's recombination is enhanced as the applied magnetic field is reduced. This model has two ostensible weaknesses: a) the assumption of a singlet initial state is irreconcilable with known reaction pathways generating such radical pairs, and b) the model neglects the swift spin relaxation of free superoxide, which abolishes any magnetic sensitivity in geomagnetic/hypomagnetic fields. We here suggest that a model based on a radical triad and the assumption of a secondary radical scavenging reaction can, in principle, explain the phenomenon without unnatural assumptions, thus providing a coherent explanation of hypomagnetic field effects in biology.