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Bongrand C, Foster JS. Modelled microgravity impacts Vibrio fischeri population structure in a mutualistic association with an animal host. Environ Microbiol 2023; 25:3269-3279. [PMID: 37828645 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Perturbations to host-microbe interactions, such as environmental stress, can alter and disrupt homeostasis. In this study, we examined the effects of a stressor, simulated microgravity, on beneficial bacteria behaviours when colonising their host. We studied the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, which establishes a mutualistic association in a symbiosis-specific organ within the bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes. To elucidate how animal-microbe interactions are affected by the stress of microgravity, squid were inoculated with different bacterial strains exhibiting either a dominant- or sharing-colonisation behaviour in High Aspect Ratio Vessels, which simulate the low-shear environment of microgravity. The colonisation behaviours of the sharing and dominant strains under modelled microgravity conditions were determined by counting light-organ homogenate of squids as well as confocal microscopy to assess the partitioning of different strains within the light organ. The results indicated that although the colonisation behaviours of the strains did not change, the population levels of the sharing strains were at lower relative abundance in single-colonised animals exposed to modelled microgravity compared to unit gravity; in addition, there were shifts in the relative abundance of strains in co-colonised squids. Together these results suggest that the initiation of beneficial interactions between microbes and animals can be altered by environmental stress, such as simulated microgravity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clotilde Bongrand
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Space Life Sciences Lab, University of Florida, Merritt Island, Florida, USA
| | - Jamie S Foster
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Space Life Sciences Lab, University of Florida, Merritt Island, Florida, USA
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2
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Bizzarri M, Giuliani A, Minini M, Monti N, Cucina A. Constraints Shape Cell Function and Morphology by Canalizing the Developmental Path along the Waddington's Landscape. Bioessays 2020; 42:e1900108. [DOI: 10.1002/bies.201900108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Bizzarri
- Systems Biology Group Laboratory, Department of Experimental MedicineSapienza University 00161 Rome Italy
| | - Alessandro Giuliani
- Environment and Health DepartmentIstituto Superiore di Sanità 00161 Rome Italy
| | - Mirko Minini
- Systems Biology Group Laboratory, Department of Experimental MedicineSapienza University 00161 Rome Italy
- Department of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni,”Sapienza University of Rome 00161 Rome Italy
| | - Noemi Monti
- Systems Biology Group Laboratory, Department of Experimental MedicineSapienza University 00161 Rome Italy
- Department of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni,”Sapienza University of Rome 00161 Rome Italy
| | - Alessandra Cucina
- Department of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni,”Sapienza University of Rome 00161 Rome Italy
- Azienda Policlinico Umberto I 00161 Rome Italy
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3
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Putative Receptors for Gravity Sensing in Mammalian Cells: The Effects of Microgravity. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/app10062028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Gravity is a constitutive force that influences life on Earth. It is sensed and translated into biochemical stimuli through the so called “mechanosensors”, proteins able to change their molecular conformation in order to amplify external cues causing several intracellular responses. Mechanosensors are widely represented in the human body with important structures such as otholiths in hair cells of vestibular system and statoliths in plants. Moreover, they are also present in the bone, where mechanical cues can cause bone resorption or formation and in muscle in which mechanical stimuli can increase the sensibility for mechanical stretch. In this review, we discuss the role of mechanosensors in two different conditions: normogravity and microgravity, emphasizing their emerging role in microgravity. Microgravity is a singular condition in which many molecular changes occur, strictly connected with the modified gravity force and free fall of bodies. Here, we first summarize the most important mechanosensors involved in normogravity and microgravity. Subsequently, we propose muscle LIM protein (MLP) and sirtuins as new actors in mechanosensing and signaling transduction under microgravity.
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4
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Koaykul C, Kim MH, Kawahara Y, Yuge L, Kino-Oka M. Maintenance of Neurogenic Differentiation Potential in Passaged Bone Marrow-Derived Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Under Simulated Microgravity Conditions. Stem Cells Dev 2019; 28:1552-1561. [PMID: 31588849 DOI: 10.1089/scd.2019.0146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are considered to be able to adapt to environmental changes induced by gravity during cell expansion. In this study, we investigated neurogenic differentiation potential of passaged hMSCs under conventional gravity and simulated microgravity conditions. Immunostaining, quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and western blot analysis of neurogenic differentiation markers, neurofilament heavy (NF-H), and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) revealed that differentiated cells from the cells cultured under simulated microgravity conditions expressed higher neurogenic levels than those from conventional gravity conditions. The levels of NF-H and MAP2 in the cells from simulated microgravity conditions were consistent during passage culture, whereas cells from conventional gravity conditions exhibited a reduction of the neurogenic levels against an increase of their passage number. In growth culture, cells under simulated microgravity conditions showed less apical stress fibers over their nucleus with fewer cells having a polarization of lamin A/C than those under conventional gravity conditions. The ratio of lamin A/C to lamin B expression in the cells under simulated microgravity conditions was constant; however, cells cultured under conventional gravity conditions showed an increase in the lamin ratio during passages. Furthermore, analysis of activating H3K4me3 and repressive H3K27me3 modifications at promoters of neuronal lineage genes indicated that cells passaged under simulated microgravity conditions sustained the methylation during serial cultivation. Nevertheless, the enrichment of H3K27me3 significantly increased in the passaged cells cultured under conventional gravity conditions. These results demonstrated that simulated microgravity-coordinated cytoskeleton-lamin reorganization leads to suppression of histone modification associated with neurogenic differentiation capacity of passaged hMSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chaiyong Koaykul
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Mee-Hae Kim
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | | | - Louis Yuge
- Space Bio-Laboratories Co., Ltd., Hiroshima, Japan.,Division of Bio-Environmental Adaptation Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Masahiro Kino-Oka
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
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Po A, Giuliani A, Masiello MG, Cucina A, Catizone A, Ricci G, Chiacchiarini M, Tafani M, Ferretti E, Bizzarri M. Phenotypic transitions enacted by simulated microgravity do not alter coherence in gene transcription profile. NPJ Microgravity 2019; 5:27. [PMID: 31799378 PMCID: PMC6872750 DOI: 10.1038/s41526-019-0088-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cells in simulated microgravity undergo a reversible morphology switch, causing the appearance of two distinct phenotypes. Despite the dramatic splitting into an adherent-fusiform and a floating-spherical population, when looking at the gene-expression phase space, cell transition ends up in a largely invariant gene transcription profile characterized by only mild modifications in the respective Pearson's correlation coefficients. Functional changes among the different phenotypes emerging in simulated microgravity using random positioning machine are adaptive modifications-as cells promptly recover their native phenotype when placed again into normal gravity-and do not alter the internal gene coherence. However, biophysical constraints are required to drive phenotypic commitment in an appropriate way, compatible with physiological requirements, given that absence of gravity foster cells to oscillate between different attractor states, thus preventing them to acquire a exclusive phenotype. This is a proof-of-concept of the adaptive properties of gene-expression networks supporting very different phenotypes by coordinated 'profile preserving' modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnese Po
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Giuliani
- Environment and Health Department, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Alessandra Cucina
- Department of Surgery “Pietro Valdoni”, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, Rome, Italy
| | - Angela Catizone
- Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic-Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulia Ricci
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
| | | | - Marco Tafani
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Mariano Bizzarri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Systems Biology Group Lab, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
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6
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Masiello MG, Verna R, Cucina A, Bizzarri M. Physical constraints in cell fate specification. A case in point: Microgravity and phenotypes differentiation. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2018; 134:55-67. [PMID: 29307754 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Revised: 12/30/2017] [Accepted: 01/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Data obtained by studying mammalian cells in absence of gravity strongly support the notion that cell fate specification cannot be understood according to the current molecular model. A paradigmatic case in point is provided by studying cell populations growing in absence of gravity. When the physical constraint (gravity) is 'experimentally removed', cells spontaneously allocate into two morphologically different phenotypes. Such phenomenon is likely enacted by the intrinsic stochasticity, which, in turn, is successively 'canalized' by a specific gene regulatory network. Both phenotypes are thermodynamically and functionally 'compatibles' with the new, modified environment. However, when the two cell subsets are reseeded into the 1g gravity field the two phenotypes collapse into one. Gravity constraints the system in adopting only one phenotype, not by selecting a pre-existing configuration, but more precisely shaping it de-novo through the modification of the cytoskeleton three-dimensional structure. Overall, those findings highlight how macro-scale features are irreducible to lower-scale explanations. The identification of macroscale control parameters - as those depending on the field (gravity, electromagnetic fields) or emerging from the cooperativity among the field's components (tissue stiffness, cell-to-cell connectivity) - are mandatory for assessing boundary conditions for models at lower scales, thus providing a concrete instantiation of top-down effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Grazia Masiello
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy; Department of Surgery "PietroValdoni", Sapienza University of Rome, via A. Scarpa 14, 00161 Rome, Italy.
| | - Roberto Verna
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy.
| | - Alessandra Cucina
- Department of Surgery "PietroValdoni", Sapienza University of Rome, via A. Scarpa 14, 00161 Rome, Italy; Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy.
| | - Mariano Bizzarri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy.
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7
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Bizzarri M, Masiello MG, Giuliani A, Cucina A. Gravity Constraints Drive Biological Systems Toward Specific Organization Patterns: Commitment of cell specification is constrained by physical cues. Bioessays 2017; 40. [PMID: 29134681 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Different cell lineages growing in microgravity undergo a spontaneous transition leading to the emergence of two distinct phenotypes. By returning these populations in a normal gravitational field, the two phenotypes collapse, recovering their original configuration. In this review, we hypothesize that, once the gravitational constraint is removed, the system freely explores its phenotypic space, while, when in a gravitational field, cells are "constrained" to adopt only one favored configuration. We suggest that the genome allows for a wide range of "possibilities" but it is unable per se to choose among them: the emergence of a specific phenotype is enabled by physical constraints that drive the system toward a preferred solution. These findings may help in understanding how cells and tissues behave in both development and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Bizzarri
- Department of Experimental Medicine Systems Biology Group, Sapienza University of Rome, viale Regina Elena 324, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Masiello
- Department of Experimental Medicine Systems Biology Group, Sapienza University of Rome, viale Regina Elena 324, Rome 00161, Italy.,Department of Surgery "PietroValdoni", Sapienza University of Rome, via A. Scarpa 14, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Alessandro Giuliani
- Environment and Health Department Istituto Superiore di Sanità, viale Regina Elena 299, Roma 00161, Italy
| | - Alessandra Cucina
- Department of Surgery "PietroValdoni", Sapienza University of Rome, via A. Scarpa 14, Rome 00161, Italy
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8
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Islami A, Longo G. Marriages of mathematics and physics: A challenge for biology. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2017; 131:179-192. [PMID: 28887142 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Revised: 09/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The human attempts to access, measure and organize physical phenomena have led to a manifold construction of mathematical and physical spaces. We will survey the evolution of geometries from Euclid to the Algebraic Geometry of the 20th century. The role of Persian/Arabic Algebra in this transition and its Western symbolic development is emphasized. In this relation, we will also discuss changes in the ontological attitudes toward mathematics and its applications. Historically, the encounter of geometric and algebraic perspectives enriched the mathematical practices and their foundations. Yet, the collapse of Euclidean certitudes, of over 2300 years, and the crisis in the mathematical analysis of the 19th century, led to the exclusion of "geometric judgments" from the foundations of Mathematics. After the success and the limits of the logico-formal analysis, it is necessary to broaden our foundational tools and re-examine the interactions with natural sciences. In particular, the way the geometric and algebraic approaches organize knowledge is analyzed as a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural issue and will be examined in Mathematical Physics and Biology. We finally discuss how the current notions of mathematical (phase) "space" should be revisited for the purposes of life sciences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giuseppe Longo
- Centre Cavaillès, CNRS - Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris and Department of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA.
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9
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Morokuma J, Durant F, Williams KB, Finkelstein JM, Blackiston DJ, Clements T, Reed DW, Roberts M, Jain M, Kimel K, Trauger SA, Wolfe BE, Levin M. Planarian regeneration in space: Persistent anatomical, behavioral, and bacteriological changes induced by space travel. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 4:85-102. [PMID: 28616247 PMCID: PMC5469732 DOI: 10.1002/reg2.79] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Revised: 03/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Regeneration is regulated not only by chemical signals but also by physical processes, such as bioelectric gradients. How these may change in the absence of the normal gravitational and geomagnetic fields is largely unknown. Planarian flatworms were moved to the International Space Station for 5 weeks, immediately after removing their heads and tails. A control group in spring water remained on Earth. No manipulation of the planaria occurred while they were in orbit, and space‐exposed worms were returned to our laboratory for analysis. One animal out of 15 regenerated into a double‐headed phenotype—normally an extremely rare event. Remarkably, amputating this double‐headed worm again, in plain water, resulted again in the double‐headed phenotype. Moreover, even when tested 20 months after return to Earth, the space‐exposed worms displayed significant quantitative differences in behavior and microbiome composition. These observations may have implications for human and animal space travelers, but could also elucidate how microgravity and hypomagnetic environments could be used to trigger desired morphological, neurological, physiological, and bacteriomic changes for various regenerative and bioengineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junji Morokuma
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
| | - Fallon Durant
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
| | - Katherine B Williams
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
| | - Joshua M Finkelstein
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
| | - Douglas J Blackiston
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
| | - Twyman Clements
- Kentucky Space LLC, 200 West Vine St., Suite 420 Lexington KY 40507 USA
| | - David W Reed
- NASA Kennedy Space Center Space Station Processing Facility Building M7-0360, Kennedy Space Center FL 32899 USA
| | - Michael Roberts
- Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) 6905 N. Wickham Rd., Suite 500 Melbourne FL 32940 USA
| | - Mahendra Jain
- Kentucky Space LLC, 200 West Vine St., Suite 420 Lexington KY 40507 USA
| | - Kris Kimel
- Exomedicine Institute 200 West Vine St. Lexington KY 40507 USA
| | - Sunia A Trauger
- Harvard University Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry Facility 52 Oxford St. Cambridge MA 02138 USA
| | - Benjamin E Wolfe
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
| | - Michael Levin
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University Biology Department Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4600 Medford MA 02155-4243 USA
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10
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The mathematical model of concentration polarization coefficient in membrane transport and volume flows. J Biol Phys 2016; 43:31-44. [PMID: 27838811 PMCID: PMC5323344 DOI: 10.1007/s10867-016-9432-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2015] [Accepted: 10/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, the authors investigate the membrane transport of aqueous non-electrolyte solutions in a single-membrane system with the membrane mounted horizontally. The purpose of the research is to analyze the influence of volume flows on the process of forming concentration boundary layers (CBLs). A mathematical model is provided to calculate dependences of a concentration polarization coefficient (ζ s ) on a volume flux (J vm ), an osmotic force (Δπ) and a hydrostatic force (ΔP) of different values. Property ζ s = f(J vm ) for J vm > 0 and for J vm ≈ 0 and property ζ s = f(ΔC 1) are calculated. Moreover, results of a simultaneous influence of ΔP and Δπ on a value of coefficient ζ s when J vm = 0 and J vm ≠ 0 are investigated and a graphical representation of the dependences obtained in the research is provided. Also, mathematical relationships between the coefficient ζ s and a concentration Rayleigh number (R C ) were studied providing a relevant graphical representation. In an experimental test, aqueous solutions of glucose and ethanol were used.
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11
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Bizzarri M, Cucina A. SMT and TOFT: Why and How They are Opposite and Incompatible Paradigms. Acta Biotheor 2016; 64:221-39. [PMID: 27283400 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-016-9281-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT) has been challenged on its fundamentals by the Tissue Organization Field Theory of Carcinogenesis (TOFT). However, a recent publication has questioned whether TOFT could be a valid alternative theory of carcinogenesis to that presented by SMT. Herein we critically review arguments supporting the irreducible opposition between the two theoretical approaches by highlighting differences regarding the philosophical, methodological and experimental approaches on which they respectively rely. We conclude that SMT has not explained carcinogenesis due to severe epistemological and empirical shortcomings, while TOFT is gaining momentum. The main issue is actually to submit SMT to rigorous testing. This concern includes the imperatives to seek evidence for disproving one's hypothesis, and to consider the whole, and not just selective evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Bizzarri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Rome, Italy.
- Systems Biology Group Lab, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Antonio Scarpa 14, 00161, Rome, Italy.
| | - Alessandra Cucina
- Department of Surgery "Pietro Valdoni", Sapienza University of Rome, Via A. Scarpa 14, 00161, Rome, Italy
- Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy
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12
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Montévil M, Speroni L, Sonnenschein C, Soto AM. Modeling mammary organogenesis from biological first principles: Cells and their physical constraints. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2016; 122:58-69. [PMID: 27544910 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Revised: 07/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
In multicellular organisms, relations among parts and between parts and the whole are contextual and interdependent. These organisms and their cells are ontogenetically linked: an organism starts as a cell that divides producing non-identical cells, which organize in tri-dimensional patterns. These association patterns and cells types change as tissues and organs are formed. This contextuality and circularity makes it difficult to establish detailed cause and effect relationships. Here we propose an approach to overcome these intrinsic difficulties by combining the use of two models; 1) an experimental one that employs 3D culture technology to obtain the structures of the mammary gland, namely, ducts and acini, and 2) a mathematical model based on biological principles. The typical approach for mathematical modeling in biology is to apply mathematical tools and concepts developed originally in physics or computer sciences. Instead, we propose to construct a mathematical model based on proper biological principles. Specifically, we use principles identified as fundamental for the elaboration of a theory of organisms, namely i) the default state of cell proliferation with variation and motility and ii) the principle of organization by closure of constraints. This model has a biological component, the cells, and a physical component, a matrix which contains collagen fibers. Cells display agency and move and proliferate unless constrained; they exert mechanical forces that i) act on collagen fibers and ii) on other cells. As fibers organize, they constrain the cells on their ability to move and to proliferate. The model exhibits a circularity that can be interpreted in terms of closure of constraints. Implementing the mathematical model shows that constraints to the default state are sufficient to explain ductal and acinar formation, and points to a target of future research, namely, to inhibitors of cell proliferation and motility generated by the epithelial cells. The success of this model suggests a step-wise approach whereby additional constraints imposed by the tissue and the organism could be examined in silico and rigorously tested by in vitro and in vivo experiments, in accordance with the organicist perspective we embrace.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maël Montévil
- Laboratoire "Matière et Systèmes Complexes" (MSC), UMR 7057 CNRS, Université Paris 7 Diderot, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France; Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (IHPST) - UMR 8590, 13, rue du Four, 75006 Paris, France.
| | - Lucia Speroni
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Carlos Sonnenschein
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Centre Cavaillès, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France; Institut d'Etudes Avancées de Nantes, France.
| | - Ana M Soto
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Centre Cavaillès, République des Savoirs, CNRS USR3608, Collège de France et École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
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13
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Identifications of novel mechanisms in breast cancer cells involving duct-like multicellular spheroid formation after exposure to the Random Positioning Machine. Sci Rep 2016; 6:26887. [PMID: 27230828 PMCID: PMC4882535 DOI: 10.1038/srep26887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 05/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Many cell types form three-dimensional aggregates (MCS; multicellular spheroids), when they are cultured under microgravity. MCS often resemble the organ, from which the cells have been derived. In this study we investigated human MCF-7 breast cancer cells after a 2 h-, 4 h-, 16 h-, 24 h- and 5d-exposure to a Random Positioning Machine (RPM) simulating microgravity. At 24 h few small compact MCS were detectable, whereas after 5d many MCS were floating in the supernatant above the cells, remaining adherently (AD). The MCS resembled the ducts formed in vivo by human epithelial breast cells. In order to clarify the underlying mechanisms, we harvested MCS and AD cells separately from each RPM-culture and measured the expression of 29 selected genes with a known involvement in MCS formation. qPCR analyses indicated that cytoskeletal genes were unaltered in short-term samples. IL8, VEGFA, and FLT1 were upregulated in 2 h/4 h AD-cultures. The ACTB, TUBB, EZR, RDX, FN1, VEGFA, FLK1 Casp9, Casp3, PRKCA mRNAs were downregulated in 5d-MCS-samples. ESR1 was upregulated in AD, and PGR1 in both phenotypes after 5d. A pathway analysis revealed that the corresponding gene products are involved in organization and regulation of the cell shape, in cell tip formation and membrane to membrane docking.
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14
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Wąsik S, Bryll A, Drabik M, Dworecki K, Ślęzak A. Laser interferometric investigation of solute transport through membrane-concentration boundary layer system. J Biol Phys 2015; 41:409-20. [PMID: 26099494 PMCID: PMC4550621 DOI: 10.1007/s10867-015-9387-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Accepted: 04/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigate diffusive transport in a membrane system with a horizontally mounted membrane under concentration polarization conditions performed by a laser interferometry method. The data obtained from two different theoretical models are compared to the experimental results of the substance flux. In the first model, the membrane is considered as infinitely thin, while in the second one as a wall of finite thickness. The theoretical calculations show sufficient correspondence with the experimental results. On the basis of interferometric measurements, the relative permeability coefficient (ζs) for the system, consisting of the membrane and concentration boundary layers, was also obtained. This coefficient reflects the concentration polarization of the membrane system. The obtained results indicate that the coefficient ζs of the membrane-concentration boundary layer system decreases in time and seems to be independent of the initial concentration of the solute.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sławomir Wąsik
- Institute of Physics, Jan Kochanowski University, Świętokrzyska 15, 25406, Kielce, Poland,
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15
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How microgravity affects the biology of living systems. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2015; 2015:863075. [PMID: 25667927 PMCID: PMC4312564 DOI: 10.1155/2015/863075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2014] [Accepted: 11/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Bravi B, Longo G. The Unconventionality of Nature: Biology, from Noise to Functional Randomness. UNCONVENTIONAL COMPUTATION AND NATURAL COMPUTATION 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-21819-9_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Tumor and the microenvironment: a chance to reframe the paradigm of carcinogenesis? BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2014; 2014:934038. [PMID: 25013812 PMCID: PMC4075186 DOI: 10.1155/2014/934038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/27/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The somatic mutation theory of carcinogenesis has eventually accumulated an impressive body of shortfalls and paradoxes, as admittedly claimed by its own supporters given that the cell-based approach can hardly explain the emergence of tissue-based processes, like cancer. However, experimental data and alternatives theories developed during the last decades may actually provide a new framework on which cancer research should be reframed. Such issue may be fulfilled embracing new theoretical perspectives, taking the cells-microenvironment interplay as the privileged level of observation and assuming radically different premises as well as new methodological frameworks. Within that perspective, the tumor microenvironment cannot be merely considered akin to new “factor” to be added to an already long list of “signaling factors”; microenvironment represents the physical-biochemical support of the morphogenetic field which drives epithelial cells towards differentiation and phenotype transformation, according to rules understandable only by means of a systems biology approach. That endeavour entails three fundamental aspects: general biological premises, the level of observation (i.e., the systems to which we are looking for), and the principles of biological organization that would help in integrating and understanding experimental data.
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