Integration of the living cell with its environment: speculation of the function of the DNA content of surface mucoids

Nuclear components with microtubule-organizing properties in multicellular eukaryotes: functional and evolutionary considerations

The nucleus and the microtubular cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells appear to be structurally and functionally interrelated. Together they constitute a "cell body". One of the most important components of this body is a primary microtubule-organizing center (MTOC-I) located on or near the nuclear surface and composed of material that, in addition to constitutive centrosomal material, also comprises some nuclear matrix components. The MTOC-I shares a continuity with the mitotic spindle and, in animal cells, with the centrosome also. Secondary microtubule-organizing centers (MTOC-IIs) are a special feature of walled plant cells and are found at the plasma membrane where they organize arrays of cortical MTs that are essential for ordered cell wall synthesis and hence for cellular morphogenesis. MTOC-IIs are held to be similar in origin to the MTOC-I, but their material has been translocated to the cell periphery, perhaps by MTs organized and radiating from the MTOC-I. Many intranuclear, matrix-related components have been identified to participate in MT organization during mitosis and cytokinesis; some of them also seem to be related to the condensation and decondensation of chromatin during the mitotic chromosome cycle.

The mathematical transformation of growth and form--I:Transferring the wave - particle duality from physics to biology and proposing wave interaction as a key determinant of biological structure

Just as the material units of existence, atoms and basic particles, can be viewed as waves or particles, depending on the observational frame chosen by the physicist, so also can biochemical macro-molecules, the units of biological existence, be viewed as waves or particles by the biologist. It is proposed that the flux of different waveforms which floods biological systems provides an interference pattern, whose energetic distribution forms a scaffold for the construction of biological forms. In this way the biological whole becomes the Fourier transform of the parts and histological pattern becomes the determinant of macroscopic form. Evidence is adduced suggesting that biological forms follow the energy patterns laid down by the environment. It is proposed that the ability of bipolymers to re-radiate coherent waveforms derived from the environment, has given evolved systems the autonomy which has allowed a free and prolific evolution. This coherent illumination can be analysed by Fourier methods and this shows that the results are peculiarly appropriate for biological systems. The Gaussian waveform is all-important and may explain the influence of homogeneous and heterogeneous DNA in cell surface kinetics, hybridisation and carcinogenesis.

Sperm basic proteins in cervical carcinogenesis: Correlation with socioeconomic class

Two types of basic protein, a histone and a protamine, were separated from single ejaculates of human sperm and a ratio between their contents in a given number of sperm established. The ratio varied widely in different males and correlated with ranking by social class: the lower the social class, the greater the proportion of protamine. Statistically similar correlations link social class with the incidence of venereal disease and the incidence of in-situ carcinoma of the cervix, both of which are epidemiological variables in squamous cervical cancer. The basic proteins of the sperm head, especially the protamines, may thus also have a role in the aetiology of squamous cervical cancer.

A hypothesis: the role of a high-risk male in the etiology of cervical carcinoma: a correlation of epidemiology and molecular biology

Certain impressive epidemiological evidence appearing in the last few years leads to the conclusion that some males are more prone to have a spouse with squamous cancer of the cervix than others. Advances in knowledge in other fields, especially at the molecular biological level, enable speculation on reasons for this curious conclusion. These readily testable theories, together with an outline of the evidence on which they rest, form the substance of this hypothesis.