Chemiexcitation and Its Implications for Disease
Data
2018
Autores
Bechara, Etelvino José Henriques 
Tipo
Revisão
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Resumo
Quantum mechanics rarely extends to molecular medicine. Recently, the pigment melanin was found to be susceptible to chemiexcitation, in which an electron is chemically excited to a high-energy molecular orbital. In invertebrates, chemiexcitation causes bioluminescence
in mammals, a higher-energy process involving melanin transfers energy to DNA without photons, creating the lethal and mutagenic cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer that can cause melanoma. This process is initiated by NO center dot and O-2(center dot-) radicals, the formation of which can be triggered by ultraviolet light or inflammation. Several chronic diseases share two properties: inflammation generates these radicals across the tissue, and the diseased cells lie near melanin. We propose that chemiexcitation may be an upstream event in numerous human diseases.
in mammals, a higher-energy process involving melanin transfers energy to DNA without photons, creating the lethal and mutagenic cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer that can cause melanoma. This process is initiated by NO center dot and O-2(center dot-) radicals, the formation of which can be triggered by ultraviolet light or inflammation. Several chronic diseases share two properties: inflammation generates these radicals across the tissue, and the diseased cells lie near melanin. We propose that chemiexcitation may be an upstream event in numerous human diseases.
Descrição
Citação
Trends In Molecular Medicine. Oxford, v. 24, n. 6, p. 527-541, 2018.