On the physical basis of biological signaling by interface pulses

Abstract

Currently, biological signaling is envisaged as a combination of activation and movement, triggered by local molecular interactions and molecular diffusion, respectively. However, we here suggest, that other fundamental physical mechanisms might play an at least equally important role. We have recently shown that lipid interfaces permit the excitation and propagation of sound pulses. Here we demonstrate that these reversible perturbations can control the activity of membrane-embedded enzymes without a requirement for molecular transport. They can thus facilitate rapid communication between distant biological entities at the speed of sound, which is here of the order of 1 m/s within the membrane. The mechanism described provides a new physical framework for biological signaling that is fundamentally different from the molecular approach that currently dominates the textbooks.