Primary structure of proteins as a nanowire for metabolic electronic transport

Abstract

It is considered that the major process in an organism is the synthesis of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules (its resumption from the adenosine diphosphate (ADP) molecules). These molecules are the basic (if not unique) energy resource of an organism. For the completion of process of the ATP synthesis in mitochondria, it is necessary to transfer to it a pair of electrons from places where electrons rise up as a result of oxidizing processes. Research of mechanisms of such transfer is important therefore, in particular, from the point of regulative influence on them in medical aims.Various proteins, the primary structure of which can provide the transport of electrons between donors and acceptors, saturate a volume and membranes of cages. A question about a possibility to examine this primary structure of proteins as a nanowire of a semiconductor nature is analyzed. The possibility of active transport of electrons through its conductivity band is analyzed also.In this paper, it was shown that a heterogeneous protein system is possible to be considered as a semiconductor with an average-nitrogen nuclear subsystem and with an average-oxygen electronic subsystem. Also, it was shown that in the potential energy of interaction between the electron and the nuclear subsystem indeed exists non-compensated contributions. These contributions are related to the radicals and provide the active transport of electrons along the primary structure of protein molecules.It was demonstrated also that external fields can have local regulative influence on the transport of electron in proteins by compensating the remaining field or strengthening it.Fulfilled analysis gives a possibility in zero approximation of the application of representation of numbers of filling to the protein molecule, considering it as the nanowire.

Current in the Protein Nanowires: Quantum Calculations of the Base States

“…If we will analyse the structure of the periodically recurring molecular group in the proteins (in fact, it is the structure of the averaged amino acid residual) [14], then, in accordance with the nitrogen model of the nuclear subsystem, the spatial variable n will not determine a separate atom. In this case, it will determine the entire amino acid residual already.…”

“…Energy operator of the primary structure of protein molecule (protein nanowire) in accordance with the numbers of filling representation was formulated in article [14] as follows:…”

“… is the modulus of the matrix element of the electronic interaction energy, while is the matrix element of the difference of interaction energies of the electron with external influences. In this case, W ( r ) is the external field, while [14] is the effective external field, which is associated with the amino acid inhomogeneity. As it may be inferred from this definition, under certain circumstances , this energy may be a negligible quantity.…”

“…In effect, amino acid inhomogeneity [2, 3], discreteness [4, 5], finite length of the α-spiral section [6], and other factors [7–10] are inherent in general to the structures containing carbon [11–13]. Particularly, average-electron structure and average-nuclear structure of the protein molecule were analysed in detail in article [14]. The goal of the analysis within the present article was to investigate the type of crystallinity of the primary structure of these molecules, as well as to investigate the possibility of performance of the electron transport through this structure to a mitochondrion.…”

“…The structure of this band is the main subject of scientific research within the present article. And this subject of research is based on the fact that protein molecule in the zeroth-order approximation is considered in the nitrogen-oxygen model [14] in the conditions of the absence of all external influences, including those that are connected with the amino acid inhomogeneity of the protein molecule. It has been shown that in such conditions, which are idealised in respect of the external field, the electron, which was injected into the conductivity band, does not create any current.…”