卢森堡大学Penocchio Emanuele团队报道了合成分子马达的信息热力学分析。相关研究成果发表在2022年3月17日出版的《自然—化学》。

信息是物理的，这一认识改变了测量和通信的物理。然而，化学系统中的信息、能量和力学之间的流动在很大程度上还没有被探索。

该文中，研究人员从信息热力学的角度分析了一个极简自主的化学驱动分子马达，这个框架定量地将信息与其他热力学参数联系起来。这种处理揭示了如何通过“能量流”和“信息流”将自由能从化学过程转移到机械（构象和/或共构象）过程，从而产生定向运动。它提供了对分子马达的一般热力学理解，补充了以前基于动力学的分析，并对机器设计具有实际意义。

根据动力学分析，研究人员发现动力冲程不会影响化学驱动机器的方向性。然而，研究人员发现功率冲程可以调节电机速度、自由能传递效率和每循环消耗的燃料分子数。这可能有助于解释这种（共）构象变化在生物机器中的作用，并说明化学系统中能量和信息之间的相互作用。

附：英文原文

Title: Insights from an information thermodynamics analysis of a synthetic molecular motor

Author: Amano, Shuntaro, Esposito, Massimiliano, Kreidt, Elisabeth, Leigh, David A., Penocchio, Emanuele, Roberts, Benjamin M. W.

Issue&Volume: 2022-03-17

Abstract: Information is physical, a realization that has transformed the physics of measurement and communication. However, the flow between information, energy and mechanics in chemical systems remains largely unexplored. Here we analyse a minimalist autonomous chemically driven molecular motor in terms of information thermodynamics, a framework that quantitatively relates information to other thermodynamic parameters. The treatment reveals how directional motion is generated by free energy transfer from chemical to mechanical (conformational and/or co-conformational) processes by ‘energy flow’ and ‘information flow’. It provides a thermodynamic level of understanding of molecular motors that is general, complements previous analyses based on kinetics and has practical implications for machine design. In line with kinetic analysis, we find that power strokes do not affect the directionality of chemically driven machines. However, we find that power strokes can modulate motor velocity, the efficiency of free energy transfer and the number of fuel molecules consumed per cycle. This may help explain the role of such (co-)conformational changes in biomachines and illustrates the interplay between energy and information in chemical systems.

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-022-00899-z

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-00899-z