MICROBIAL AND VIRAL INFECTIONS
Excess levels of deuterium give rise to increased bacterial (prokaryote) propagation and infections, which themselves deuplete the body. Excess deuterium stabilizes the viral protein and the RNA and protects it from temperature denaturation and can therefore provide a stable template for reverse transcription.
Hydrogen substitution by deuterium in viral structure will affect viral physical and chemical features, which may make viral structures more stable and firm. Viruses take up deuterium and “trap” it in their protein coat and in their internal single strand of RNA. This changes the phenotype of the virus and provides enhanced thermostability.
Central Dogma of Biology DNA → RNA → Protein Does No Longer Holds
Most viruses have either RNA or DNA as their genetic material. On June 11, 2021 Science Advances, one of the Open Access periodicals of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) published a landmark paper that challenges the central dogma of biology namely the understanding that DNA is transcribed into RNA and then RNA is translated into protein, irreversibly. It turns out that one of the 14 human DNA polymerases that have been identified in humans, called Polymerase Theta (Polθ), known as an error-prone and promiscuous enzyme, is more efficient than HIV reverse transcriptase in converting mRNA sequences or fragments into DNA when stable mRNA templates are available. This process is regulated by what is called substrate level regulation, meaning, this reaction will only take place if there is stable mRNA available, i.e. the substrate of the reaction.
Fidelity of Polymerase
Theta Polymerase theta is present in both the nucleus and the cytosol. It is a DNA polymerase, meaning its function is to repair double-strand breaks in DNA, except when there is RNA around. Polymerase theta has a preference for binding RNA as its template while using deoxynuleotides for its polymerized product. A unique property of the reverse transcriptase activity of polymerase theta, seen in all reverse transcriptase enzymes, is that it transfers two protons in the process of pairing and transcribing RNA nucleotides into DNA. These protons come from water. If the water in the cytoplasm is deuterated, meaning it has an increased ratio of deuterium to hydrogen, the likelihood the polymerase theta picks up a deuterium instead of hydrogen is increased as well. mRNAs under normal physiological conditions break down in seconds after translation to minutes in cells, tissues and/or the circulation. The rapid and spontaneous breakdown of RNA occurs to preserve genetic integrity of the body by preventing the reverse transcriptase action of any polymerase, especially that of the theta isoform.
Excess deuterium can stabilize any newly polymerized mRNA inside of the cytoplasm and therefore it will persist to be reverse transcribed into DNA by plomerase theta. This potentially can lead to genome transformation.
Thus deupletion can prevent infections as it restrains prokaryotic and virus-stabilization and propagation.