DNA Music – Aquaporin-4 (Homo sapiens)
You Are Listening to the Melody of Human AQP4 Protein Assembly from mRNA
Introduction
Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the primary water channel in the human brain. This protein regulates water movement across astrocyte cell membranes, maintains fluid balance, supports the blood-brain barrier, and plays a key role in the brain’s glymphatic system the “waste-clearance” pathway of the central nervous system.
In the Adaris Genome Music Project, we transform the molecular structures of living organisms into musical sequences. Today you are hearing the musical interpretation of AQP4 assembly the protein that makes water exchange in the brain possible.
How the Musical Model of AQP4 is Created
AQP4 is an integral transmembrane protein consisting of six helical segments that form a selective water pore.
When translating the AQP4 amino acid sequence into music, the following mapping rules are applied:
Musical Correspondences
- Hydrophobic transmembrane segments → low, steady notes: cello, double bass, bass clarinet
- Hydrophilic loops between segments → middle and high melodic lines: flute, violin, piano
- Charged amino acids → bright accents: metallophone, glockenspiel
- NPA motifs (the signature of all aquaporins) → recurring musical pattern, a recognizable and memorable motif
- Start codon → deep gong strike
- Stop codon → shimmering, scattering chord of chimes
AQP4 has alternating regions embedded in the membrane and loops protruding outward – this gives its melody a distinctly wave-like, flowing character, reminiscent of moving water.
How the AQP4 Protein Sounds
The AQP4 melody reflects the protein’s structure as an audible landscape:
- The transmembrane helices create dark, low-tonal “walls” of sound – solid, sustaining bass structures.
- The loops between helices sound like fluid, flowing passages that evoke the gentle murmur of water.
- The NPA motif (Asn-Pro-Ala), crucial for forming the water pore, appears as a repeating musical signature – light, memorable, almost “liquid” chimes.
- The central part of the protein builds a calm, focused harmony – like a steady, directed stream of fluid.
- The end of synthesis concludes with a light, scattering chime chord, symbolizing the completion of the protein on the ribosome.
The resulting composition feels like a musical symphony of water moving through the brain’s cell membranes.
What You Are Hearing
You are listening to a musical model of the translation of human AQP4 protein from mRNA. Each amino acid becomes a note, each domain becomes a musical phrase, and the entire structure turns into the melody of the brain’s water channel.
This is the sound of molecular hydrodynamics transformed into music.
Source of the Genetic Sequence
Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) [Homo sapiens] Full protein sequence: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/protein/AAB26957.1