Radical triads, not pairs, may explain effects of hypomagnetic fields on neurogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Adult hippocampal neurogenesis and hippocampus-dependent cognition in mice have been found to be adversely affected by hypomagnetic field exposure. The effect concurred with a reduction of reactive oxygen species in the absence of the geomagnetic field. A recent theoretical study suggests a mechanistic interpretation of this phenomenon in the framework of the Radical Pair Mechanism. According to this model, a flavin-superoxide radical pair, born in the singlet spin configuration, undergoes magnetic field-dependent spin dynamics such that the pair's recombination is enhanced as the applied magnetic field is reduced. This model has two ostensible weaknesses: a) the assumption of a singlet initial state is irreconcilable with known reaction pathways generating such radical pairs, and b) the m

SUBMITTER: Ramsay J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9514667 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature