Experimental evidence for long-distance electrodynamic intermolecular forces.

Both classical and quantum electrodynamics predict the existence of dipole-dipole long-range electrodynamic intermolecular forces; however, these have never been hitherto experimentally observed. The discovery of completely new and unanticipated forces acting between biomolecules could have considerable impact on our understanding of the dynamics and functioning of the molecular machines at work in living organisms. Here, using two independent experiments, on the basis of different physical effects detected by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and terahertz spectroscopy, respectively, we demonstrate experimentally the activation of resonant electrodynamic intermolecular forces. This is an unprecedented experimental proof of principle of a physical phenomenon that, having been observed for biomacromolecules and with long-range action (up to 1000 Å), could be of importance for biology. In addition to thermal fluctuations that drive molecular motion randomly, these resonant (and thus selective) electrodynamic forces may contribute to molecular encounters in the crowded cellular space.

Detection of long-range electrostatic interactions between charged molecules by means of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

In the present paper, an experimental feasibility study on the detection of long-range intermolecular interactions through three-dimensional molecular diffusion in solution is performed. This follows recent theoretical and numerical analyses reporting that long-range electrodynamic forces between biomolecules could be identified through deviations from Brownian diffusion. The suggested experimental technique was fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). By considering two oppositely charged molecular species in aqueous solution, namely, lysozymes and fluorescent dye molecules (Alexa488), the diffusion coefficient of the dyes has been measured for different values of the concentration of lysozyme, that is, for different average distances between the oppositely charged molecules. For our model, long-range interactions are of electrostatic origin, suggesting that their action radius can be varied by changing the ionic strength of the solution. The experimental outcomes clearly prove the detectability of long-range intermolecular interactions by means of the FCS technique. Molecular dynamics simulations provide a clear and unambiguous interpretation of the experimental results.

Random walk of passive tracers among randomly moving obstacles.

BACKGROUND: This study is mainly motivated by the need of understanding how the diffusion behavior of a biomolecule (or even of a larger object) is affected by other moving macromolecules, organelles, and so on, inside a living cell, whence the possibility of understanding whether or not a randomly walking biomolecule is also subject to a long-range force field driving it to its target. METHOD: By means of the Continuous Time Random Walk (CTRW) technique the topic of random walk in random environment is here considered in the case of a passively diffusing particle among randomly moving and interacting obstacles. RESULTS: The relevant physical quantity which is worked out is the diffusion coefficient of the passive tracer which is computed as a function of the average inter-obstacles distance. CONCLUSIONS: The results reported here suggest that if a biomolecule, let us call it a test molecule, moves towards its target in the presence of other independently interacting molecules, its motion can be considerably slowed down.

Experimental detection of long-distance interactions between biomolecules through their diffusion behavior: numerical study.

The dynamical properties and diffusive behavior of a collection of mutually interacting particles are numerically investigated for two types of long-range interparticle interactions: Coulomb-electrostatic and dipole-electrodynamic. It is shown that when the particles are uniformly distributed throughout the accessible space, the self-diffusion coefficient is always lowered by the considered interparticle interactions, irrespective of their attractive or repulsive character. This fact is also confirmed by a simple model to compute the correction to the Brownian diffusion coefficient due to the interactions among the particles. These interactions are also responsible for the onset of dynamical chaos and an associated chaotic diffusion which still follows an Einstein-Fick-like law for the mean-square displacement as a function of time. Transitional phenomena are observed for Coulomb-electrostatic (repulsive) and dipole-electrodynamic (attractive) interactions considered both separately and in competition. The outcomes reported in this paper clearly indicate a feasible experimental method to probe the activation of resonant electrodynamic interactions among biomolecules.

Experimental assessment of the contribution of electrodynamic interactions to long-distance recruitment of biomolecular partners: Theoretical basis.

Highly specific spatiotemporal interactions between cognate molecular partners essentially sustain all biochemical transactions in living matter. That such an exquisite level of accuracy may result from encountering forces solely driven by thermal diffusive processes is unlikely. Here we propose a yet unexplored strategy to experimentally tackle the long-standing question of a possibly active recruitment at a distance of cognate partners of biomolecular reactions via the action of resonant electrodynamic interactions. We considered two simplified models for a preliminary feasibility investigation of the devised methodology. By taking advantage of advanced experimental techniques nowadays available, we propose to measure the characteristic encounter time scales of dually interacting biopartners and to compare them with theoretical predictions worked out in both the presence and absence of putative long-range electromagnetic forces.