cations to conduction band electrons. With activation energy barriers and
solid-liquid interfaces present in the cell, the liquid state free-cation model of the
cell is clearly not applicable. A model based on structured water and associated
cations is compatible with thermodynamic evidence.
A substantial part of water molecules in the cell is in the form of hydration water
bound to various macromolecules. Yet another large portion exists in the
so-called vicinal water form with several exotic properties. It does not have a
unique freezing temperature but freezes over the interval of -70 to -50 C
(Tuszynski, 2003). It is a poor solvent for electrolytes but a good one for
non-electrolytes, i.e. it behaves as a non-polar solvent. It has a higher viscosity
than normal water and exhibits dynamic correlations between individual
molecules (Cooke & Kuntz, 1974; Franks, 1975; Clegg, 1981). Of great interest is
the fact that most of the vicinal water surrounds the cytoskeleton (Clegg, 1981).
Mascarenhas (1974) demonstrated electret properties of bound water with
attendant non-linearity, hysteresis effects and long relaxation times on the order
of 1s and activation energies of about 7.0-9.0 kcal/mol have been measured, all
of which would tend to indicate the presence of long-range dipolar order leading
to the formation of internal electric fields or perhaps collective oscillations of
electric fields (Del Giudice et al., 1986).
The microtubule cavities and the vicinal water have been modeled in the
framework of the quantum field theory revealing two important phenomena that
could take place in the cell: (1) collective infrared photon emission by water
molecules known as superradiance (Jibu et al. 1994; 1996; Jibu & Yasue, 1995;
1997) and (2) Rabi coupling that between the water molecules inside the cavity
of the microtubule and the tubulins that build up the microtubule walls
(Mavromatos & Nanopoulos, 1997; 1998; Mavromatos, 2000; Mavromatos et al.,
2000, 2002).
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