Decrypting the Nonadiabatic Photoinduced Electron Transfer Mechanism in Light-Sensing Cryptochrome.

ABSTRACT: Cryptochromes are blue light photoreceptors in organisms from plants to animals that are essential for circadian rhythms, phototropism, and magnetoreception. In light-sensing cryptochromes, the photoexcitation of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor triggers a cascade of electron transfer (ET) events via a tryptophan chain, eventually generating a radical pair crucial for signaling. Despite extensive studies, the initial photoinduced ET from a neighboring tryptophan residue to FAD remains unclear due to the complexity of simulating all-atom dynamics in excited states, particularly regarding the roles of nonadiabatic pathways and protein environment on the reaction kinetics and quantum efficiency of the ET. To address this gap, we performed extensive nonadiabatic and adiabatic dyn

SUBMITTER: Costa GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12291142 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature