On the Biological Advantage of Chirality

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential biological advantages of molecular chirality, proposing a model for chiral interactions that could influence biomolecular processes and evolution, supported by macroscopic analogies and experimental evidence.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model of chiral interaction involving physical interfaces and demonstrates its implications for biomolecular function and evolution.

Findings

Chiral interactions generate preferred directional currents in biomolecules.

Time-irreversibility of chiral interactions is linked to non-ergodic behavior essential for evolution.

Experimental evidence connects proton motion in hydration layers to enzymatic activity.

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.