Magnetoreception in cryptochrome enabled by one-dimensional radical motion

Abstract

A popular hypothesis ascribes magnetoreception to a magnetosensitive recombination reaction of a pair of radicals in the protein cryptochrome. Many theoretical studies of this model have ignored inter-radical interactions, particularly the electron-electron dipolar (EED) coupling, which have a detrimental effect on the magnetosensitivity. Here, we set out to elucidate if a radical pair allowed to undergo internal motion can yield enhanced magneto-sensitivity. Our model considers the effects of diffusive motion of one radical partner along a one-dimensional reaction coordinate. Such dynamics could, in principle, be realized either via actual diffusion of a mobile radical through a protein channel or via bound radical pairs subjected to protein structural rearrangements and fluctuations. We demonstrate that the suppressive effect of the EED interactions can be alleviated in these scenarios as a result of the quantum Zeno effect and intermittent reduction of the EED coupling during the radical's diffusive excursions. Our results highlight the importance of the dynamic environment entwined with the radical pair and ensuing magnetosensitivity under strong EED coupling, where it had not previously been anticipated, and demonstrate that a triplet-born radical pair can develop superior sensitivity over a singlet-born one.