Modulation of channel activity and gadolinium block of MscL by static magnetic fields |
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Authors: | Evgeny Petrov Boris Martinac |
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Institution: | (1) School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia |
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Abstract: | The magnetic field of the Earth has for long been known to influence the behaviour and orientation of a variety of living
organisms. Experimental studies of the magnetic sense have, however, been impaired by the lack of a plausible cellular and/or
molecular mechanism providing meaningful explanation for detection of magnetic fields by these organisms. Recently, mechanosensitive
(MS) ion channels have been implied to play a role in magnetoreception. In this study we have investigated the effect of static
magnetic fields (SMFs) of moderate intensity on the activity and gadolinium block of MscL, the bacterial MS channel of large
conductance, which has served as a model channel to study the basic physical principles of mechanosensory transduction in
living cells. In addition to showing that direct application of the magnetic field decreased the activity of the MscL channel,
our study demonstrates for the first time that SMFs can reverse the effect of gadolinium, a well-known blocker of MS channels.
The results of our study are consistent with a notion that (1) the effects of SMFs on the MscL channels may result from changes
in physical properties of the lipid bilayer due to diamagnetic anisotropy of phospholipid molecules and consequently (2) cooperative
superdiamagnetism of phospholipid molecules under influence of SMFs could cause displacement of Gd3+ ions from the membrane bilayer and thus remove the MscL channel block. |
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Keywords: | MscL SMFs Gadolinium Patch-clamp Bacteria |
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