Multicellular Systems - Molecular Theory of the Living Cell - page 554

2. The Principle of Synchronization (PS) through the generalized Franck-Condon
mechanism (Sect. 7.2.2 ) . The synchronization of the actions of protein domains
within an enzyme is thought to be needed for effectuating catalysis (see, for
example, the synchronization of the amino acid residues 1-4 at the transition
state in Fig. 7.5 ) . Synchronization is a nonrandom process and hence requires
dissipation of free energy to be effectuated in order not to violate the laws of
thermodynamics (see Sect. 2.1 ). The free energy required to synchronize amino
acid residues in the catalytic cavity of an enzyme is postulated to be derived from
substrate binding or the chemical reaction that the enzyme catalyzes. Organizing
the catalytic residues at the enzyme active site is a relatively slow process
compared to the fast electronic transitions accompanying chemical reactions
that provide the needed free energy. To couple these two partial processes, the
slow process must precede the fast one, according to the generalized
Franck-Condon principle (GFCP) or the Principle of Slow and Fast Processes
(PSFP) (Sect. 2.2 ). Thus, the following generalization logically follows:
Slow and fast partial processes can be coupled or synchronized if and only if i) the fast
process is exergonic and ii) the slow process precedes the fast process. (15.39)

Statement 15.39 may be viewed as a more complete expression of GFCP or
PSFP than the previous version given in Statement 2.25 (Ji 1991, p. 53), because it
specifies the source of free energy needed to drive the coupling or the synchroniza-
tion of two partial processes, one slow and the other fast: The free energy must be
supplied by the fast, not the slow, partial process.
The synchronization phenomenon has also been observed among neuronal firing
activities in the brain which is known as neuronal synchrony (Woelbern et al. 2002,
Anderson et al. 2006, Averbeck and Lee 2004). In analogy, we may refer to the
synchrony underlying enzymic catalysis (see Fig. 7.5 in Sect. 7.2.2 ) as the protein
domain synchrony . Generalizing further, it is postulated here that the principle of
synchrony can be extended to all chuncked systems in biology, including the
contractile system depicted in Fig. 15.19 and that, just as the protein domain
synchrony is effectuated through the generalized Franck-Condon mechanism
(GFCM) (see Fig. 7.5 ), so all other chunk synchronies depend on GFCM in order
not to violate the laws of thermodynamics. The essential role of GFCM in “chunk
synchrony” resides in making it possible for the synchronized system to pay for its
free energy cost by coupling slow, endergonic processes to fast, exergonic process
such as ATP hydrolysis or membrane depolarization triggered by action potentials.
Based on these considerations, it appears reasonable to conclude that:
The dynamic actions of the chunks in chunked systems in biology and medicine can be
synchronized based on the generalized Franck-Condon mechanisms or the Principle of Fast
and Slow Processes. (15.40)

We will refer to Statement 15.40 as the principle of FDT amplification by increas-
ing mass ,or the FDTABIM (to be read as “ FDT-ah-bim”) principle. On the level of
the contractile system of the human body, the FDTABIM principle appears to be
satisfied because the size of the chunks increases by a factor of about 10 8 frommyosin
to muscle and because all the chunks can be activated simultaneously by the