Quantum biology and human carcinogenesis

Understanding cancer from a biophysical, developmental and systems biology perspective using the landscapes-attractor model

Biophysical, developmental and systems-biology considerations enable deeper understanding why cancer is life threatening despite intensive research. Here we use two metaphors. Both conceive the cell genome and the encoded molecular system as an interacting gene regulatory network (GRN). According to Waddington's epigenetic (quasi-potential)-landscape, an instrumental tool in ontogenetics, individual interaction patterns ( = expression profiles) within this GRN represent possible cell states with different stabilities. Network interactions with low stability are represented on peaks. Unstable interactions strive towards regions with higher stability located at lower altitude in valleys termed attractors that correspond to stable cell phenotypes. Cancer cells are seen as GRNs adopting aberrant semi-stable attractor states (cancer attractor). In the second metaphor, Wright's phylogenetic fitness (adaptive) landscape, each genome ( = GRN) is assigned a specific position in the landscape according to its structure and reproductive fitness in the specific environment. High elevation signifies high fitness and low altitude low fitness. Selection ensures that mutant GRNs evolve and move from valleys to peaks. The genetic flexibility is highlighted in the fitness landscape, while non-genetic flexibility is captured in the quasi-potential landscape. These models resolve several inconsistencies that have puzzled cancer researchers, such as the fact that phenotypes generated by non-genetic mechanisms coexist in a single tumor with phenotypes caused by mutations and they mitigate conflicts between cancer theories that claim cancer is caused by mutation (somatic mutation theory) or by disruption of tissue architecture (tissue organization field theory). Nevertheless, spontaneous mutations play key roles in cancer. Remarkable, fundamental natural laws such as the second law of thermodynamics and quantum mechanics state that mutations are inevitable events. The good side of this is that without mutational variability in DNA, evolutionary development would not have occurred, but its bad side is that the occurrence of cancer is essentially inevitable. In summary, both landscapes together fully describe the behavior of cancer under normal and stressful conditions such as chemotherapy. Thus, the landscapes-attractor model fully describes cancer cell behavior and offers new perspectives for future treatment.

Extended Weyl-Wigner phase-space framework for nonlinear systems: Typical and modified prey-predator-like dynamics

The extension of the phase-space Weyl-Wigner quantum mechanics to the subset of Hamiltonians in the form of H(q,p)=K(p)+V(q) [with K(p) replacing single p^{2} contributions] is revisited. Deviations from classical and stationary profiles are identified in terms of Wigner functions and Wigner currents for Gaussian and gamma/Laplacian distribution ensembles. The procedure is successful in accounting for the exact pattern of quantum fluctuations when compared with the classical phase-space pattern. General results are then specialized to some specific Hamiltonians revealing nonlinear dynamics, and suggest a novel algorithm to treat quantum modifications mapped by Wigner currents. Our analysis shows that the framework encompasses, for instance, the quantized prey-predator-like scenarios subjected to statistical constraints.

Integrating frontiers: a holistic, quantum and evolutionary approach to conquering cancer through systems biology and multidisciplinary synergy

Cancer therapy is facing increasingly significant challenges, marked by a wide range of techniques and research efforts centered around somatic mutations, precision oncology, and the vast amount of big data. Despite this abundance of information, the quest to cure cancer often seems more elusive, with the "war on cancer" yet to deliver a definitive victory. A particularly pressing issue is the development of tumor treatment resistance, highlighting the urgent need for innovative approaches. Evolutionary, Quantum Biology and System Biology offer a promising framework for advancing experimental cancer research. By integrating theoretical studies, translational methods, and flexible multidisciplinary clinical research, there's potential to enhance current treatment strategies and improve outcomes for cancer patients. Establishing stronger links between evolutionary, quantum, entropy and chaos principles and oncology could lead to more effective treatments that leverage an understanding of the tumor's evolutionary dynamics, paving the way for novel methods to control and mitigate cancer. Achieving these objectives necessitates a commitment to multidisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration at the heart of both research and clinical endeavors in oncology. This entails dismantling silos between disciplines, encouraging open communication and data sharing, and integrating diverse viewpoints and expertise from the outset of research projects. Being receptive to new scientific discoveries and responsive to how patients react to treatments is also crucial. Such strategies are key to keeping the field of oncology at the forefront of effective cancer management, ensuring patients receive the most personalized and effective care. Ultimately, this approach aims to push the boundaries of cancer understanding, treating it as a manageable chronic condition, aiming to extend life expectancy and enhance patient quality of life.

Carcinogenic effect of human tumor-derived cell-free filtrates in nude mice

Cancer remains a worldwide cause of morbidity and mortality. Investigational research efforts have included the administration of tumor-derived extracts to healthy animals. Having previously demonstrated that the administration of non-transmissible, human cancer-derived homogenates induced malignant tumors in mice, here, we examined the consequences of administering 50 or 100 µg of protein of crude homogenates from mammary carcinoma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and melanoma samples in 6 inoculations per week during 2 months. The concurrent control mice received homogenates of healthy donor-skin cosmetic surgery fragments. Mammary carcinoma homogenate administration did not provoke the deterioration or mortality of the animals. Multiple foci of lung adenocarcinomas with a broad expression of malignity histomarkers coexisting with small cell-like carcinomas were found. Disseminated cells, positive to classic epithelial markers, were detected in lymphoid nodes. The administration of pancreatic tumor and melanoma homogenates progressively deteriorated animal health. Pancreatic tumor induced poorly differentiated lung adenocarcinomas and pancreatic islet hyperplasia. Melanoma affected lungs with solid pseudopapillary adenocarcinomas. Giant atypical hepatocytes were also observed. The kidney exhibited dispersed foci of neoplastic cells within a desmoplastic matrix. Nuclear overlapping with hyperchromatic nuclei, mitotic figures, and prominent nuclear atypia was identified in epidermal cells. None of these changes were ever detected in the control mice. Furthermore, the incubation of zebrafish embryos with breast tumor homogenates induced the expression of c-Myc and HER-2 as tumor markers, contrasting to embryos exposed to healthy tissue-derived material. This study confirms and extends our hypothesis that tumor homogenates contain and may act as vectors for "malignancy drivers," which ultimately implement a carcinogenesis process in otherwise healthy mice.

Wireless electrical-molecular quantum signalling for cancer cell apoptosis

Quantum biological tunnelling for electron transfer is involved in controlling essential functions for life such as cellular respiration and homoeostasis. Understanding and controlling the quantum effects in biology has the potential to modulate biological functions. Here we merge wireless nano-electrochemical tools with cancer cells for control over electron transfer to trigger cancer cell death. Gold bipolar nanoelectrodes functionalized with redox-active cytochrome c and a redox mediator zinc porphyrin are developed as electric-field-stimulating bio-actuators, termed bio-nanoantennae. We show that a remote electrical input regulates electron transport between these redox molecules, which results in quantum biological tunnelling for electron transfer to trigger apoptosis in patient-derived cancer cells in a selective manner. Transcriptomics data show that the electric-field-induced bio-nanoantenna targets the cancer cells in a unique manner, representing electrically induced control of molecular signalling. The work shows the potential of quantum-based medical diagnostics and treatments.

A critical appraisal of the relative contribution of tissue architecture, genetics, epigenetics and cell metabolism to carcinogenesis

Here we contrast several carcinogenesis models. The somatic-mutation-theory posits mutations as main causes of malignancy. However, inconsistencies led to alternative explanations. For example, the tissue-organization-field-theory considers disrupted tissue-architecture as main cause. Both models can be reconciled using systems-biology-approaches, according to which tumors hover in states of self-organized criticality between order and chaos, are emergent results of multiple deviations and are subject to general laws of nature: inevitable variation(mutation) explainable by increased entropy(second-law-of-thermodynamics) or indeterminate decoherence upon measurement of superposed quantum systems(quantum mechanics), followed by Darwinian-selection. Genomic expression is regulated by epigenetics. Both systems cooperate. So cancer is neither just a mutational nor an epigenetic problem. Rather, epigenetics links environmental cues to endogenous genetics engendering a regulatory machinery that encompasses specific cancer-metabolic-networks. Interestingly, mutations occur at all levels of this machinery (oncogenes/tumor-suppressors, epigenetic-modifiers, structure-genes, metabolic-genes). Therefore, in most cases, DNA mutations may be the initial and crucial cancer-promoting triggers.

Neural induction drives body axis formation during embryogenesis, but a neural induction-like process drives tumorigenesis in postnatal animals

Characterization of cancer cells and neural stem cells indicates that tumorigenicity and pluripotency are coupled cell properties determined by neural stemness, and tumorigenesis represents a process of progressive loss of original cell identity and gain of neural stemness. This reminds of a most fundamental process required for the development of the nervous system and body axis during embryogenesis, i.e., embryonic neural induction. Neural induction is that, in response to extracellular signals that are secreted by the Spemann-Mangold organizer in amphibians or the node in mammals and inhibit epidermal fate in ectoderm, the ectodermal cells lose their epidermal fate and assume the neural default fate and consequently, turn into neuroectodermal cells. They further differentiate into the nervous system and also some non-neural cells via interaction with adjacent tissues. Failure in neural induction leads to failure of embryogenesis, and ectopic neural induction due to ectopic organizer or node activity or activation of embryonic neural genes causes a formation of secondary body axis or a conjoined twin. During tumorigenesis, cells progressively lose their original cell identity and gain of neural stemness, and consequently, gain of tumorigenicity and pluripotency, due to various intra-/extracellular insults in cells of a postnatal animal. Tumorigenic cells can be induced to differentiation into normal cells and integrate into normal embryonic development within an embryo. However, they form tumors and cannot integrate into animal tissues/organs in a postnatal animal because of lack of embryonic inducing signals. Combination of studies of developmental and cancer biology indicates that neural induction drives embryogenesis in gastrulating embryos but a similar process drives tumorigenesis in a postnatal animal. Tumorigenicity is by nature the manifestation of aberrant occurrence of pluripotent state in a postnatal animal. Pluripotency and tumorigenicity are both but different manifestations of neural stemness in pre- and postnatal stages of animal life, respectively. Based on these findings, I discuss about some confusion in cancer research, propose to distinguish the causality and associations and discriminate causal and supporting factors involved in tumorigenesis, and suggest revisiting the focus of cancer research.

Semantic parsing of the life process by quantum biology

A fact that an ever-increasingly number of research attention has focused on quantum biology demonstrates that it is, by no means, new to works in physic and mathematics, but to molecular biologists, geneticists, and biochemists. This is owing to that quantum biology serves as a distinctive discipline, by using quantum theory to study life sciences in combination with physics, mechanics, mathematics, statistics, and modern biology. Notably, quantum mechanics and its fundamental principles have been employed to clarify complex biological processes and molecular homeostasis within the organic life. Consequently, using the principles of quantum mechanics to study dynamic changes and energy transfer of molecules at the quantum level in biology has been accepted as an unusually distinguishable way to a better explanation of many phenomena in life. It is plausible that a clear conceptual quantum theoretical event is also considered to generally occur for short-term picoseconds or femtoseconds on microscopic nano- and subnanometer scales in biology and biosciences. For instance, photosynthesis, enzyme -catalyzed reactions, magnetic perception, the capture of smell and vision, DNA fragmentation, cellular breathing, mitochondrial processing, as well as brain thinking and consciousness, are all manifested within quantum superposition, quantum coherence, quantum entanglement, quantum tunneling, and other effects. In this mini-review, we describe the recent progress in quantum biology, with a promising direction for further insights into this field.

Recent progress and perspectives in applications of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine polymers in biodevices at small scales

Bioinspired materials have attracted attention in a wide range of fields. Among these materials, a polymer family containing 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), which has a zwitterionic phosphorylcholine headgroup inspired by the...

Visualizing Quantum Coherence Based on Single-Molecule Coherent Modulation Microscopy

Massive magical phenomena in nature are closely related to quantum effects at the microscopic scale. However, the lack of straightforward methods to observe the quantum coherent dynamics in integrated biological systems limits the study of essential biological mechanisms. In this work, we developed a single-molecule coherent modulation (SMCM) microscopy by combining the superior features of single-molecule microscopy with ultrafast spectroscopy. By introducing the modem technology and defining the coherent visibility, we realized visualization and real-time observation of the decoherence process of a single molecule influenced by the microenvironment for the first time. In particular, we applied this technique to observe the quantum coherent properties of the entire chlorella cells and found the correlation between the coherent visibility and metabolic activities, which may have potential applications in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine.

Biophysical signal transduction in cancer cells: Understanding its role in cancer pathogenesis and treatment

Signaling between cells can promote both the development and progression of cancer. It has been found that chemical and physical signals, together with extracellular factors, can influence cancer progression. In this review, we focus on the physical microenvironment of cancer cells and examine the action of mechanical, electromagnetic, thermal, and acoustic signals on cancer cells, which may provide new directions for cancer research and treatment.