Quantum states in proteins and protein assemblies: The essence of life

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Quantum states in proteins and protein
assembliesThe essence of life? Stuart Hameroff
M.D. Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology and
Psychology Associate Director, Center for
Consciousness Studies The University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hame
roff
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• Overview
• Protein fluctuations regulated by quantum
  London forces
• in hydrophobic pockets
• ?Proteins as qubits
• Protein assemblies (microtubules) capable of
  information processing
• ? Microtubules as quantum computers
• Antidecoherence
• Shielding actin gelation, ordered
  water. C termini Debye layer
• Phonon pumping Frohlich
• Topological quantum error correction
• Intercellular quantum states
• Tunnelling through gap junctions
• Entanglement by centriole quantum optics

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• Essential real time functions in living cells
  are performed by protein conformational
  fluctuations
• Ion channel opening/closing
• Binding of ligands (neurotransmitters, oxygen
  etc.)
• Enzymatic catalysis
• Transport/movement/muscle contraction
• Signaling/communication
• Growth/cell division
• Etc.
• How do proteins control their
  shape?

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• Protein fluctuations occur at many time/size
  scales,
• but functional, global transitions generally
  occur in
• the nanosecond (10-9 sec) to 10 picosecond
  (10-11 sec) time scale
• Proteins have large energies gt103 kiloJoules
  per mole (kJ mol-1)
• from interactions among various amino acid side
  groups, but are only
• marginally stable against denaturation by 40
  kJ mol-1
• Consequently, protein conformation is a
• "delicate balance among powerful countervailing
  forces"
• (Voet and Voet, 1995)
• Strong, more stable interactions among polar
  side groups
• cancel out and protein conformation is
  determined by weak,
• non-polar van der Waals London forces in
  regions shielded from polar
• effects hydrophobic pockets

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The structure of proteins (folding) is driven by
non-polar hydrophobic effects non-polar amino
acid groups join together by van der Waals
forces, avoid aqueous environment, form
hydrophobic pockets within proteins
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                Tyrosine                     
Phenylalanine                   
Histidine                  Tryptophan   
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• Three types of van der Waals forces
• Permanent dipole permanent dipole
• Permanent dipole induced dipole
• Induced dipole induced dipole
• (London dispersion force)

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van der Waals London forces
instantaneous dipole-dipole couplings between
non-polar (but polarizable) electron clouds of
hydrophobic amino acid groups
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• London force interactions among nonpolar amino
  acid groups in hydrophobic pockets are
• Weak, but most numerous and influential
• Mediate anesthetic effects
• Quantum mechanical
• Conclusion (Some) Proteins are leveraged
  to/controlled by quantum forces
• Can they be qubits?

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• Anesthetic gases reversibly erase consciousness
  by London force interactions in
• hydrophobic pockets of certain brain proteins
• What do they do there? Prevent normally
  occurring London forces necessary for
• protein dynamics and consciousness
• (Anesthetic effect reversed by increased
  pressure)

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• London force interactions among nonpolar amino
  acid groups in hydrophobic pockets are
• Weak, but most numerous and influential
• Mediate anesthetic effects
• Quantum mechanical
• Conclusion (Some) Proteins are leveraged
  to/controlled by quantum forces
• Can they be qubits?

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• How could delicate quantum states survive in
  the warm, wet, brain when technological quantum
  devices require isolation and extreme cold to
  avoid decoherence?Tegmark (2000) Quantum
  microtubule decoheres in 10-13 sec,
• too fast to be relevant
• Hagan et al (2002) Using Orch OR stipulations,
  microtubule
• decoherence times of 100 milliseconds or
  longer due to
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• Coherent laser-like phonon pumping (Frohlich)
• Ordered Water
• Actin gelation/isolation
• Plasma screening (C termini)
• Topological quantum error correction
• Biology has had 4 billion years of evolution
• to solve the
  decoherence problem!!!

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• Topological Quantum Error Correction (Another
  way to avoid decoherence)
• Uses geometry of
  quantum computation device (Kitaev)
• Run quantum error correction along intersecting
  paths of quantum algorithm (e.g. for
• toroidal doughnut - topology, quantum
  algorithm runs around circumference, quantum
  error correction code runs in and out of hole).
• 2) Aharonov-Bohm effect multiple paths of
  quantum particles equivalent to
• superposition of all possible paths. The
  path is the qubit!
• For microtubules, possible paths align along
  helical pathways which intersect on any
  protofilament according to Fibonacci series.
  Paths and their intersections correspond with
  phonon maxima and microtubule-associated protein
  (MAP) binding sites.
• If paths (rather than individual tubulins) are
  the qubits, then decoherence of individual
  tubulins will not decohere entire qubit or
  destroy quantum computation.

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• Quantum optical entanglement by centrioles?
• All cells emit light,
• claimed to be coherent (squeezed) photons (F.A.
  Popp)
• Delayed luminescence originates in perinuclear
  region
• (centrioles)
• Centrioles are "eye" of cell, perceiving
  infra-red photons
• (Albrecht-Buehler)
• Data suggests neuronal firing can be entangled
• (?by dendritic centrioles)

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• Paths to entanglement.
• Components originally united, such as the EPR
  electron pairs, and then separated while
  remaining in isolated superposition.
• Mediated entanglement Spatially separated
  non-entangled systems - make simultaneous quantum
  measurements coherently, e.g. via laser
  pulsations which essentially condense components
  (Bose-Einstein condensation) into a single system
  though spatially separated. This technique was
  used in cesium cloud entanglement experiments in
  which trillions of cesium atoms were entangled.
• Post-selection (Aharonov, Davies)
• Combination of 1, 2 and/or 3 in biology?

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• Summary
• Protein fluctuations regulated by quantum
  London forces
• in hydrophobic pockets
• ?Proteins as qubits
• Protein assemblies (microtubules) capable of
  information processing
• ? Microtubules as quantum computers
• Antidecoherence
• Shielding actin gelation, ordered
  water. C termini Debye layer
• Phonon pumping Frohlich
• Topological quantum error correction
• Intercellular quantum states
• Tunnelling through gap junctions
• Entanglement by centriole quantum optics

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Conclusion Living cells, tissues and
organisms may utilize quantum coherent
superposition, entanglement and computation.
Life may be a quantum state (Quantum
vitalism) Collaborators (who may not
necessarily agree with my conclusion) Jack
Tuszynski, Mitch Porter, Nancy Woolf, Sir Roger
Penrose