Quantum based effects of therapeutic nuclear magnetic resonance persistently reduce glycolysis

Viktoria Thöni; David Mauracher; Anil Ramalingam; Birgit Fiechtner; Adolf Michael Sandbichler; Margit Egg

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105536

Quantum based effects of therapeutic nuclear magnetic resonance persistently reduce glycolysis

iScience. 2022 Nov 9;25(12):105536. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105536. eCollection 2022 Dec 22.

Authors

Viktoria Thöni¹, David Mauracher¹, Anil Ramalingam¹, Birgit Fiechtner¹, Adolf Michael Sandbichler¹, Margit Egg¹

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Zoology, University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Tyrol A-6020, Austria.

Abstract

Electromagnetic fields are known to induce the clock protein cryptochrome to modulate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the quantum based radical pair mechanism (RPM) in mammalian cells. Recently, therapeutic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (tNMR) was shown to alter protein levels of the circadian clock associated Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) in a nonlinear dose response relationship. Using synchronized NIH3T3 cells, we show that tNMR under normoxia and hypoxia persistently modifies cellular metabolism. After normoxic tNMR treatment, glycolysis is reduced, as are lactate production, extracellular acidification rate, the ratio of ADP/ATP and cytosolic ROS, whereas mitochondrial and extracellular ROS, as well as cellular proliferation are increased. Remarkably, these effects are even more pronounced after hypoxic tNMR treatment, driving cellular metabolism to a reduced glycolysis while mitochondrial respiration is kept constant even during reoxygenation. Hence, we propose tNMR as a potential therapeutic tool in ischemia driven diseases like inflammation, infarct, stroke and cancer.

Keywords: Cell biology; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Therapy.