3 ms·
How does it do that without forming chemical compounds? Is it like a catalyst for another reaction or something?
by schoen 2y ago
How does it do that without forming chemical compounds? Is it like a catalyst for another reaction or something?
- teraflop 2y agoEven though xenon doesn't easily form "compounds" in the normal chemical sense, it does weakly interact with other molecules through van der Waals forces, which are strong enough to affect the functioning of various receptors in neurons. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6467505/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6467505/
- duskwuff 2y agoI'm not an expert on the biochemistry, but Wikipedia has a summary of some of the known interactions at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon#Anesthesia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon#Anesthesia
- Luc 2y agoIt will still react through (weaker) non covalent forces, like van der Waals force.
- alan-hn 2y agoReactions don't need to happen, the magnesium ion is a single atom that interacts with the NMDA receptor to block it at specific potentials. When the postsynaptic neuron gets enough input at a synapse, there is enough change in the charge inside the cell where it allows the Mg2+ ion to be displaced from the pore to allow cations to pass through Our cells use single atoms, usually in the form of charged ions, on a regular basis and we would not survive without them
- lpribis 2y agoI'm not very knowledgeable on this, but my understanding is that xenon can dissolve in the lipids in the brain and influence reactions in that state. This paper [1] seems to show that xenon can displace glycene in the NMDA receptors. The receptor is a "door" and glycene is one of the "keys" to open. By binding or interacting with the glycene site on the receptor, xenon keeps glycene from reaching the receptor, inhibiting it. [1] https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/112/3/614/10846/Competitive-Inhibition-at-the-Glycine-Site-of-the https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/112/3/614/1084...