{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T17:59:34Z","timestamp":1775239174062,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775174400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100022016","name":"College of Graduate Studies, United Arab Emirates University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["G-00003550"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["G-00003550"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100022016","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The role of non-Markovian quantum effects in biological processes is increasingly recognized, yet remains largely unexplored in virology. This study investigates the influence of quantum tunneling on SARS-CoV-2 infection dynamics, focusing on the interaction between the viral spike protein and the host ACE2 receptor. We employed the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (NMQSD) to model electron transfer mediated by vibrational modes within the structured lipid membrane. Our results challenge conventional semiclassical models by demonstrating that this interaction operates not in the weak coupling limit, but in an intermediate coupling regime where quantum coherence is pivotal. We find that specific vibrational modes significantly enhance tunneling efficiency and sustain coherence over extended timescales. Furthermore, our findings reveal a critical dependence on resonance: tunneling is highly efficient below resonance via resonance-assisted mechanisms, whereas tunneling rates decrease sharply above resonance due to decoherence effects. These results, which parallel coherence phenomena in photosynthesis, suggest that the host\u2019s membrane environment actively optimizes electron transfer. This work presents a new paradigm for virus-host interactions and identifies the modulation of vibrational frequencies as a potential new avenue for antiviral drug design.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0344447","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T17:22:49Z","timestamp":1775236969000},"page":"e0344447","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Non-markovian electron tunneling in SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in structured environments"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1522-8396","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Muhammad Waqas","family":"Haseeb","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1045-2409","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mohamad","family":"Toutounji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0344447.ref001","first-page":"3167","article-title":"Structure-based quantum dynamics of excitonic energy transfer in photosystem II: The role of the protein environment","volume":"124","author":"T Renger","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chem Rev"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0344447.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3331","DOI":"10.1021\/ja9072222","article-title":"Structure-based calculations of optical spectra of photosystem I suggest an asymmetric light-harvesting process","volume":"132","author":"J Adolphs","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Am Chem Soc"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref003","volume-title":"Charge and energy transfer dynamics in molecular systems","author":"V May","year":"2023"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0344447.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"035102","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4856795","article-title":"Energy-scales convergence for optimal and robust quantum transport in photosynthetic complexes","volume":"140","author":"M Mohseni","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Chem Phys"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511863189","volume-title":"Quantum Effects in Biology","author":"M Mohseni","year":"2014"},{"issue":"7137","key":"pone.0344447.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1038\/nature05678","article-title":"Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems","volume":"446","author":"GS Engel","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0344447.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1123","DOI":"10.1038\/s41567-019-0605-6","article-title":"Non-exponential decay of a giant artificial atom","volume":"15","author":"G Andersson","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat Phys"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0344447.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"904","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-03312-x","article-title":"Studying light-harvesting models with superconducting circuits","volume":"9","author":"A Poto\u010dnik","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7606","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms8606","article-title":"Observation of non-Markovian micromechanical Brownian motion","volume":"6","author":"S Gr\u00f6blacher","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"issue":"17","key":"pone.0344447.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"170402","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.109.170402","article-title":"General non-Markovian dynamics of open quantum systems","volume":"109","author":"W-M Zhang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Phys Rev Lett"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-58218-9","volume-title":"Open Quantum Systems","author":"B Vacchini","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/hesc\/9780197663813.001.0001","volume-title":"Sensation and Perception","author":"JM Wolfe","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref013","article-title":"Drosophila chemoreceptors: a molecular interface between the chemical world and the brain","volume":"47","author":"LEB Vosshall","year":"2024","journal-title":"Annu Rev Neurosci"},{"issue":"148","key":"pone.0344447.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20180640","DOI":"10.1098\/rsif.2018.0640","article-title":"The future of quantum biology","volume":"15","author":"A Marais","year":"2018","journal-title":"J R Soc Interface"},{"issue":"34","key":"pone.0344447.ref015","article-title":"Probing the olfactory receptor response to isotopic benzyl mercaptan","volume":"121","author":"E Block","year":"2024","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"issue":"22","key":"pone.0344447.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4767067","article-title":"Quantum origins of molecular recognition and olfaction in Drosophila","volume":"137","author":"ER Bittner","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Chem Phys"},{"issue":"8038","key":"pone.0344447.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"499","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-024-08126-0","article-title":"Engineered odorant receptors illuminate the basis of odour discrimination","volume":"635","author":"CA de March","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9990","DOI":"10.1038\/srep09990","article-title":"Neuroreceptor activation by vibration-assisted tunneling","volume":"5","author":"RD Hoehn","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"issue":"2201","key":"pone.0344447.ref019","first-page":"20160822","article-title":"Quantum effects in biology: golden rule in enzymes, olfaction, photosynthesis and magnetodetection","volume":"473","author":"JC Brookes","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proc Math Phys Eng Sci"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0344447.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"656","DOI":"10.1080\/00131857.2020.1835647","article-title":"The coming pandemic era","volume":"54","author":"MA Peters","year":"2022","journal-title":"Educ Philos Theory"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0344447.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"013038","DOI":"10.1088\/1367-2630\/15\/1\/013038","article-title":"Decoherence-assisted transport in quantum networks","volume":"15","author":"A Marais","year":"2013","journal-title":"New J Phys"},{"issue":"7807","key":"pone.0344447.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2180-5","article-title":"Structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain bound to the ACE2 receptor","volume":"581","author":"J Lan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0344447.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"025102","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4905377","article-title":"Dissipation enhanced vibrational sensing in an olfactory molecular switch","volume":"142","author":"A Ch\u0119ci\u0144ska","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Chem Phys"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"021002","DOI":"10.1103\/RevModPhys.88.021002","article-title":"Non-Markovian dynamics in open quantum systems","volume":"88","author":"HP Breuer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Rev Mod Phys"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0344447.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1103\/xhff-x24s","article-title":"Quantum trajectory method for highly excited environments in non-Markovian open quantum dynamics","volume":"112","author":"K M\u00fcller","year":"2025","journal-title":"Phys Rev A"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0344447.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"044110","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4940218","article-title":"Energy transfer in structured and unstructured environments: Master equations beyond the Born-Markov approximations","volume":"144","author":"J Iles-Smith","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Chem Phys"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0344447.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12152","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-62670-3","article-title":"Vibration assisted electron tunnelling in COVID-19 infection using quantum state diffusion","volume":"14","author":"MW Haseeb","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref028","first-page":"2891","article-title":"Theoretical and Computational Advances in Biological Electron and Proton Transfer","volume":"124","author":"GA Voth","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chem Rev"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0344447.ref029","article-title":"Renin-angiotensin system blockers and susceptibility to COVID-19: an international, open science, cohort analysis","volume":"3","author":"DR Morales","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Digit Health"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0344447.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"906","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2023.01.039","article-title":"Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2-at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"186","author":"GY Oudit","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref031","first-page":"439","article-title":"The G protein-coupled receptor signaling paradigm","volume":"64","author":"C Gaudet","year":"2024","journal-title":"Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0344447.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.3390\/v4061011","article-title":"Mechanisms of coronavirus cell entry mediated by the viral spike protein","volume":"4","author":"S Belouzard","year":"2012","journal-title":"Viruses"},{"issue":"30","key":"pone.0344447.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csbj.2025.06.012","article-title":"Non-Markovian Quantum State Diffusion for the tunnelling in SARS-COVID-19 virus","volume":"1","author":"MW Haseeb","year":"2025","journal-title":"Comput Struct Biotechnol J"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref034","first-page":"3051","article-title":"Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy: A Coherent View on Solution-Phase Dynamics","volume":"124","author":"TLC Jansen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chem Rev"},{"issue":"40","key":"pone.0344447.ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13861","DOI":"10.1039\/c2cp41436h","article-title":"Vibrationally assisted electron transfer mechanism of olfaction: myth or reality?","volume":"14","author":"IA Solov\u2019yov","year":"2012","journal-title":"Phys Chem Chem Phys"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0344447.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"020602","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.108.020602","article-title":"Decoherence-assisted transport in a dimer system","volume":"108","author":"I Sinayskiy","year":"2012","journal-title":"Phys Rev Lett"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0344447.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"073025","DOI":"10.1088\/1367-2630\/ad5bfb","article-title":"Nonequilibrium quantum heat transport between structured environments","volume":"26","author":"G Pleasance","year":"2024","journal-title":"New J Phys"},{"key":"pone.0344447.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114008","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2022.114008","article-title":"Surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based immunoassay for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2","volume":"202","author":"H Cha","year":"2022","journal-title":"Biosens Bioelectron"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0344447.ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16929","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-21321-1","article-title":"Quantum tunnelling in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection","volume":"12","author":"B Adams","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci Rep"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0344447","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T17:22:58Z","timestamp":1775236978000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0344447"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Dennis","family":"Salahub","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0344447","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]]}}}