Spin biochemistry: magnetic 24Mg-25Mg-26Mg isotope effect in mitochondrial ADP phosphorylation

The rates of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by isolated mitochondria and mitochondrial creatine kinase incubated in isotopically pure media containing, separately, (24)Mg(2+), (25)Mg(2+), and (26)Mg(2+) ions were shown to be strongly dependent on the magnesium nuclear spin and magnetic moment. The rate of adenosine 5'-diphosphate phosphorylation in mitochondria with magnetic nuclei (25)Mg is about twice higher than that with the spinless, nonmagnetic nuclei (24,26)Mg. When mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation was selectively blocked by treatment with 1-methylnicotine amide, (25)Mg(2+) ions were shown to be nearly four times more active in mitochondrial ATP synthesis than (24,26)Mg(2+) ions. The rate of ATP production associated with creatine kinase is twice higher for (25)Mg(2+) than for (24,26)Mg and does not depend on the blockade of oxidative phosphorylation. There is no difference between (24)Mg(2+) and (26)Mg(2+) effects in both oxidative and substrate phosphorylation. These observations demonstrate that the enzymatic phosphorylation is a nuclear spin selective process controlled by magnetic isotope effect. The reaction mechanism proposed includes a participation of intermediate ion-radical pairs with Mg(+) cation as a radical partner. Therefore, the key mitochondrial phosphotransferases work as a magnesium nuclear spin mediated molecular machines.