title: A magnetic protein biocompass.
abstract: The notion that animals can detect the Earth's magnetic field was once ridiculed, but is now well established. Yet the biological nature of such magnetosensing phenomenon remains unknown. Here, we report a putative magnetic receptor (Drosophila CG8198, here named MagR) and a multimeric magnetosensing rod-like protein complex, identified by theoretical postulation and genome-wide screening, and validated with cellular, biochemical, structural and biophysical methods. The magnetosensing complex consists of the identified putative magnetoreceptor and known magnetoreception-related photoreceptor cryptochromes (Cry), has the attributes of both Cry- and iron-based systems, and exhibits spontaneous alignment in magnetic fields, including that of the Earth. Such a protein complex may form the basis of magnetoreception in animals, and may lead to applications across multiple fields.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Siying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Celi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Zhongmin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Protein &Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Yulong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Protein &Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Center for Experimental Animal Research, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Protein &Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Lizong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Protein &Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Zhongxian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Protein &Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Taijiao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001703:Biophysics; D010856:Columbidae / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008280:Magnetics; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008958:Models, Molecular; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021381:Protein Transport; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger