"Introduction
... It has been known for at least 3 decades that L-ascorbic acid protects DNA from oxidative damage in human spermatocytes.
... In this paper we will present an overview of what we believe to be the biophysical basis for numerous reports of pleiotropic behaviors of L-ascorbic acid. We have been strongly influenced by the large body of scientific contributions from Linus Pauling and Hans Selye... The present paper represents a brief summary and initial results from the collaboration between Winey and Davidson, a collaboration whose focus is on supramolecular biology, in a process they describe as non-enzymatic group transfer catalysis ('NGTC'), an over-arching process which spans all levels of biological signaling organization, and subsumes the supramolecular properties of activated water and L-ascorbic acid...
Vitamin C has long been known to play an essential role in the synthesis, modelling, and remodelling [of] the structure of various collagen biopolymers, as well as playing a role in the regulation of collagen gene expression...
Discussion and Conclusions
... (vi) In the midst of a persistent global COVID-19 pandemic, what can we lose by hypothesis generation and testing?
[W]ould it be worthwhile to see if Cu2+ and the L-ascorbic acid free radical cleave the polynucleotide at sites dependent on the structural motifs...? A supramolecular experimental strategy could logically target SARS-CoV-2 either (a) directly, at the RNA level, catalyzing RNA cleavage of specific phospho-diester bonds, or (b) alternatively, targeting one or more of the SARS-CoV-2 translation/transcription factors at the protein kinase and sirtuin levels, exploiting potential 'vulnerabilities' of the pathogen’s replicative life cycle...
Potential Benefits and Applications of the Ascorbolysis Hypothesis
... The elderly and those suffering from chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases are especially vulnerable to infections with SARS-CoV2. Generally, the elderly typically experience age-related decline in their natural immune function and antioxidant defense system. In principle, they might be effectively 'rescued' by means of increasing their intracellular L-AA and L-AA-2P levels...
[T]he global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic provides the impetus to be pro-active. At such a time, the NGTC and ascorbolysis hypotheses may suggest ways to develop the much needed re-direct for a unified theory of synergistic environmental toxicology in general, and for the known experimental effects of aluminum, fluoride, and EM [electromagnetic] pollution."
Copyright (c) 2021 Robert M. Davidson, Timothy R. Winey
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