Resonance energy transfer: Beyond the limits

Andrews, Davıd L.; Curutchet, Carles; Scholes, Gregory D.

doi:10.1002/lpor.201000004

Cited by 104 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 87 publications

(91 reference statements)

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“…An initially excited donor chromophore can convey its electronic energy to an acceptor chromophore via electrodynamic coupling of their transition electric dipole moments owing to the close correspondence, or 'resonance', between their energy levels. This resonance energy transfer (RET), which was originally pioneered by Förster [14] and is more specifically termed FRET, remains the dominant theory applied in electronic energy transport [15,16]. However, this process is not unique to photosynthesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules

Craddock

Friesen

Mane

et al. 2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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It was once purported that biological systems were far too 'warm and wet' to support quantum phenomena mainly owing to thermal effects disrupting quantum coherence. However, recent experimental results and theoretical analyses have shown that thermal energy may assist, rather than disrupt, quantum coherent transport, especially in the 'dry' hydrophobic interiors of biomolecules. Specifically, evidence has been accumulating for the necessary involvement of quantum coherent energy transfer between uniquely arranged chromophores in light harvesting photosynthetic complexes. The 'tubulin' subunit proteins, which comprise microtubules, also possess a distinct architecture of chromophores, namely aromatic amino acids, including tryptophan. The geometry and dipolar properties of these aromatics are similar to those found in photosynthetic units indicating that tubulin may support coherent energy transfer. Tubulin aggregated into microtubule geometric lattices may support such energy transfer, which could be important for biological signalling and communication essential to living processes. Here, we perform a computational investigation of energy transfer between chromophoric amino acids in tubulin via dipole excitations coupled to the surrounding thermal environment. We present the spatial structure and energetic properties of the tryptophan residues in the microtubule constituent protein tubulin. Plausibility arguments for the conditions favouring a quantum mechanism of signal propagation along a microtubule are provided. Overall, we find that coherent energy transfer in tubulin and microtubules is biologically feasible.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules

Craddock

Friesen

Mane

et al. 2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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show abstract

“…In the QED theory this process is mediated by a virtual photon, coupling the donor decay and acceptor excitation through its creation and subsequent annihilation. 20 We shall be focusing on spontaneous emission processes, for which the relevant rate equations can be derived from time-dependent perturbation theory; in QED, spontaneous emission is understood to result from interaction of the excited system with the vacuum electromagnetic field. 15,21 From Fermi's Rule, 22 the emission rate is given by…”

Section: A System Hamiltonianmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical emission of a molecular nanoantenna pair

Rice

Andrews

2012

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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The optical emission from a pair of nanoantennas is investigated within the theoretical framework of quantum electrodynamics. The analysis of fluorescent emission from a pair of molecular antenna species in close proximity is prompted by experimental work on oriented semiconductor polymer nanostructures. Each physically different possibility for separation-dependent features in photon emission by any such pair is explored in detail, leading to the identification of three distinct mechanisms: emission from a pair-delocalized exciton state, emission that engages electrodynamic coupling through quantum interference, and correlated photon emission from the two components of the pair. Although each mechanism produces a damped oscillatory dependence on the pair separation, each of the corresponding results exhibits an analytically different form. Significant differences in the associated spatial frequencies enable an apparent ambiguity in the interpretation of experiments to be resolved. Other major differences are found in the requisite conditions, the associated selection rules, and the variation with angular disposition of the emitters, together offering grounds for experimental discrimination between the coupling mechanisms. The analysis paves the way for investigations of pair-wise coupling effects in the emission from nanoantenna arrays.

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“…Research teams across the globe have long sought clues to the structure-property features responsible for the high levels of efficiency in the wide variety of such systems, in the hope of informing the design of artificial energy harvesting materials. A key aim has been, and remains, the accomplishment of similar levels of efficiency in synthetically less demanding materials, achieved by emulating the photobiological principles of photon capture [4][5][6][7][8]. In the whole field of molecular science, multi-chromophore dendrimers represent the single type of material that has most significantly fulfilled this promise [4,5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of Light Energy Harvesting in Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers

Bradshaw

Andrews

2011

Polymers

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Abstract:Since their earliest synthesis, much interest has arisen in the use of dendritic and structurally allied forms of polymer for light energy harvesting, especially as organic adjuncts for solar energy devices. With the facility to accommodate a proliferation of antenna chromophores, such materials can capture and channel light energy with a high degree of efficiency, each polymer unit potentially delivering the energy of one photon-or more, when optical nonlinearity is involved. To ensure the highest efficiency of operation, it is essential to understand the processes responsible for photon capture and channelling of the resulting electronic excitation. Highlighting the latest theoretical advances, this paper reviews the principal mechanisms, which prove to involve a complex interplay of structural, spectroscopic and electrodynamic properties. Designing materials with the capacity to capture and control light energy facilitates applications that now extend from solar energy to medical photonics.

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Resonance energy transfer: Beyond the limits

Cited by 104 publications

References 87 publications

The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules

The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules

Optical emission of a molecular nanoantenna pair

Mechanisms of Light Energy Harvesting in Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers

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