Recent experiments show that membrane ATPases are capable of absorbing free energy from an applied oscillating electric field and converting it to chemical bond energy of ATP or chemical potential energy of concentration gradients. Presumably these enzymes would also respond to endogenous transmembrane electric fields of similar intensity and waveform. A mechanism is proposed in which energy coupling is achieved via Coulombic interaction of an electric field and the conformational equilibria of an ATPase. Analysis indicates that only an oscillating or fluctuating electric field can be used by an enzyme to drive a chemical reaction away from equilibrium. In vivo, the stationary transmembrane potential of a cell must be modulated to become “locally” oscillatory if it is to derive energy and signal transduction processes.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Review Article|
February 01 1989
Resonance electroconformational coupling: A proposed mechanism for energy and signal transductions by membrane proteins
Tian Yow Tsong;
Tian Yow Tsong
1Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
3Department of Biochemistry, University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences, St Paul, Minnesota 55108
Search for other works by this author on:
Dao-Sheng Liu;
Dao-Sheng Liu
1Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Francoise Chauvin;
Francoise Chauvin
1Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
R. Dean Astumian
R. Dean Astumian
2Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
April 13 1988
Online ISSN: 1573-4935
Print ISSN: 0144-8463
© 1989 Plenum Publishing Corporation
1989
Biosci Rep (1989) 9 (1): 13–26.
Article history
Received:
April 13 1988
Citation
Tian Yow Tsong, Dao-Sheng Liu, Francoise Chauvin, R. Dean Astumian; Resonance electroconformational coupling: A proposed mechanism for energy and signal transductions by membrane proteins. Biosci Rep 1 February 1989; 9 (1): 13–26. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117508
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Biochemical Society Member Sign in
Sign InSign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionGet Access To This Article
Open Access for all
We offer compliant routes for all authors from 2025. With library support, there will be no author nor reader charges in 5 journals. Check here |
![]() |