Research progress of biomagnetic receptor protein MagR/IscA

Abstract: Iron-sulfur cluster proteins are a class of important mitochondrial functional proteins that play key roles in cellular energy metabolism, electron transport, substrate binding and activation, iron/sulfur storage, enzymatic reactions, and regulation of gene expression. Obstruction in the assembly and transport of iron-sulfur clusters will seriously affect the homeostasis of intracellular iron and the function of iron-sulfur proteins. Among them, IscA with a molecular weight of about 11-kDa is a highly conserved member of the iron-sulfur protein subfamily hesB. It can bind iron ions and [2Fe-2S] clusters, thereby participating in the synthesis of iron-sulfur cluster proteins, so it plays an important role in the iron-sulfur cluster assembly protein system. More noteworthy is that in 2015, Xie Can and Zhang Shengjia respectively The research group found that IscA1 has unique magnetic sensor (MagS) and magnetic receptor (MagR) functions. More importantly, it can regulate neural activity and behavioral localization by stimulating the expression of related magnetic genes through an external magnetic field. In view of the unique functions of magnetic receptors combined with related technologies, they are collectively referred to as magnetogenetics (magnetic genetics). This article briefly introduces the initial discovery and identification process of IscA protein, evolutionary conservation and its unique physiological and biological functions. , and condensed the mechanism regulation model of the magnetic genetic hypothesis.