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Mondellini S, Schwarzer M, Völkl M, Jasinski J, Jérôme V, Scheibel T, Laforsch C, Freitag R. Size dependent uptake and trophic transfer of polystyrene microplastics in unicellular freshwater eukaryotes. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 929:172470. [PMID: 38621530 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Microplastics (MP) have become a well-known and widely investigated environmental pollutant. Despite the huge amount of new studies investigating the potential threat posed by MP, the possible uptake and trophic transfer in lower trophic levels of freshwater ecosystems remains understudied. This study aims to investigate the internalization and potential trophic transfer of fluorescent polystyrene (PS) beads (0.5 μm, 3.6 × 108 particles/mL; 6 μm, 2.1 × 105 particles/mL) and fragments (<30 μm, 5 × 103 particles/mL) in three unicellular eukaryotes. This study focuses on the size-dependent uptake of MP by two freshwater Ciliophora, Tetrahymena pyriformis, Paramecium caudatum and one Amoebozoa, Amoeba proteus, serving also as predator for experiments on potential trophic transfer. Size-dependent uptake of MP in all three unicellular eukaryotes was shown. P. caudatum is able to take up MP fragments up to 27.7 μm, while T. pyriformis ingests particles up to 10 μm. In A. proteus, small MP (PS0.5μm and PS6μm) were taken up via pinocytosis and were detected in the cytoplasm for up to 14 days after exposure. Large PS-MP (PS<30μm) were detected in A. proteus only after predation on MP-fed Ciliophora. These results indicate that A. proteus ingests larger MP via predation on Ciliophora (PS<30μm), which would not be taken up otherwise. This study shows trophic transfer of MP at the base of the aquatic food web and serves as basis to study the impact of MP in freshwater ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Mondellini
- Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Michael Schwarzer
- Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Matthias Völkl
- Process Biotechnology, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Julia Jasinski
- Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Valérie Jérôme
- Process Biotechnology, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Thomas Scheibel
- Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany; Bayerisches Polymerinstitut (BPI), University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany; Bayreuther Zentrum für Kolloide und Grenzflächen (BZKG), University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany; Bayreuther Zentrum für Molekulare Biowissenschaften (BZMB), University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany; Bayreuther Materialzentrum (BayMAT), University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Christian Laforsch
- Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
| | - Ruth Freitag
- Process Biotechnology, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany; Bayreuther Zentrum für Molekulare Biowissenschaften (BZMB), University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
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2
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Hansel C. Contiguity in perception: origins in cellular associative computations. Trends Neurosci 2024; 47:170-180. [PMID: 38310022 PMCID: PMC10939850 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2024.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Our brains are good at detecting and learning associative structures; according to some linguistic theories, this capacity even constitutes a prerequisite for the development of syntax and compositionality in language and verbalized thought. I will argue that the search for associative motifs in input patterns is an evolutionary old brain function that enables contiguity in sensory perception and orientation in time and space. It has its origins in an elementary material property of cells that is particularly evident at chemical synapses: input-assigned calcium influx that activates calcium sensor proteins involved in memory storage. This machinery for the detection and learning of associative motifs generates knowledge about input relationships and integrates this knowledge into existing networks through updates in connectivity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Hansel
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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3
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Mohsenvand K, Carnicer A, Marmiroli B, Moradi AR. 3D integral imaging of acoustically trapped objects. Sci Rep 2024; 14:28. [PMID: 38168597 PMCID: PMC10761982 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50662-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
3D imaging provides crucial details about the objects and scenes that may not be obtained via 2D imaging methods. However, there are several applications in which the object to be 3D-imaged requires to be immobilized. The integrated digital holographic microscopy (DHM) and optical trapping (OT) system is a useful solution for such a task, but both DHM and OT are mostly suitable for microscopic specimens. Here, for the first time to the best of our knowledge and as an analogy to the DHM-OT system, we introduce integral imaging (InIm) and acoustic trapping (AT) integrated system for 3D imaging of immobilized mesoscopic and macroscopic objects. Post-processing of InIm data enables reconstructing the scene at any arbitrary plane, therefore, it re-focuses any particular depth of the object, which is a curtail task, especially when the object is trapped by AT. We demonstrate the capability of our system by simultaneous trapping and 3D imaging of single and multiple irregularly shaped objects with mm sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kooshan Mohsenvand
- Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45137-66731, Iran
| | - Artur Carnicer
- Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Benedetta Marmiroli
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Graz University of Technology, 8010, Graz, Austria
| | - Ali-Reza Moradi
- Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45137-66731, Iran.
- School of Nano Science, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran, 19395-5531, Iran.
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4
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Rouleau N, Levin M. The Multiple Realizability of Sentience in Living Systems and Beyond. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0375-23.2023. [PMID: 37963652 PMCID: PMC10646883 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0375-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Rouleau
- Department of Health Sciences, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5, Canada
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155
- Allen Discovery Center at, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155
| | - Michael Levin
- Allen Discovery Center at, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02215
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5
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Masi M. An evidence-based critical review of the mind-brain identity theory. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1150605. [PMID: 37965649 PMCID: PMC10641890 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and psychology, the causal relationship between phenomenal consciousness, mentation, and brain states has always been a matter of debate. On the one hand, material monism posits consciousness and mind as pure brain epiphenomena. One of its most stringent lines of reasoning relies on a 'loss-of-function lesion premise,' according to which, since brain lesions and neurochemical modifications lead to cognitive impairment and/or altered states of consciousness, there is no reason to doubt the mind-brain identity. On the other hand, dualism or idealism (in one form or another) regard consciousness and mind as something other than the sole product of cerebral activity pointing at the ineffable, undefinable, and seemingly unphysical nature of our subjective qualitative experiences and its related mental dimension. Here, several neuroscientific findings are reviewed that question the idea that posits phenomenal experience as an emergent property of brain activity, and argue that the premise of material monism is based on a logical correlation-causation fallacy. While these (mostly ignored) findings, if considered separately from each other, could, in principle, be recast into a physicalist paradigm, once viewed from an integral perspective, they substantiate equally well an ontology that posits mind and consciousness as a primal phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Masi
- Independent Researcher, Knetzgau, Germany
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6
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Zamir A, Li G, Chase K, Moskovitch R, Sun B, Zaritsky A. Emergence of synchronized multicellular mechanosensing from spatiotemporal integration of heterogeneous single-cell information transfer. Cell Syst 2022; 13:711-723.e7. [PMID: 35921844 PMCID: PMC9509451 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2022.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Multicellular synchronization is a ubiquitous phenomenon in living systems. However, how noisy and heterogeneous behaviors of individual cells are integrated across a population toward multicellular synchronization is unclear. Here, we study the process of multicellular calcium synchronization of the endothelial cell monolayer in response to mechanical stimuli. We applied information theory to quantify the asymmetric information transfer between pairs of cells and defined quantitative measures to how single cells receive or transmit information within a multicellular network. Our analysis revealed that multicellular synchronization was established by gradual enhancement of information spread from the single cell to the multicellular scale. Synchronization was associated with heterogeneity in the cells' communication properties, reinforcement of the cells' state, and information flow. Altogether, we suggest a phenomenological model where cells gradually learn their local environment, adjust, and reinforce their internal state to stabilize the multicellular network architecture to support information flow from local to global scales toward multicellular synchronization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amos Zamir
- Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Guanyu Li
- Department of Physics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA; Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Katelyn Chase
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Robert Moskovitch
- Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Bo Sun
- Department of Physics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
| | - Assaf Zaritsky
- Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
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7
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Richardson K. Genes and knowledge: Response to Baverstock, K. the gene an appraisal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2021.04.005. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2021; 167:12-17. [PMID: 34736965 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2021.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This response aims to expand on some of the issues raised by Keith Baverstock's The Gene: An Appraisal, especially on the evolution and nature of knowledge in living things. In contrast to the simple associationism envisaged in "genetic information", it emphasises the dynamic complexity and changeability of most natural environments, and, therefore, predictability based on underlying statistical structures. That seems to be the basis of the "cognitive" functions increasingly being reported about cellular, as well as more evolved, functions, and of the autonomous agency of organisms thriving creatively in complex environments.
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8
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Timsit Y, Grégoire SP. Towards the Idea of Molecular Brains. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms222111868. [PMID: 34769300 PMCID: PMC8584932 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222111868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 10/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
How can single cells without nervous systems perform complex behaviours such as habituation, associative learning and decision making, which are considered the hallmark of animals with a brain? Are there molecular systems that underlie cognitive properties equivalent to those of the brain? This review follows the development of the idea of molecular brains from Darwin’s “root brain hypothesis”, through bacterial chemotaxis, to the recent discovery of neuron-like r-protein networks in the ribosome. By combining a structural biology view with a Bayesian brain approach, this review explores the evolutionary labyrinth of information processing systems across scales. Ribosomal protein networks open a window into what were probably the earliest signalling systems to emerge before the radiation of the three kingdoms. While ribosomal networks are characterised by long-lasting interactions between their protein nodes, cell signalling networks are essentially based on transient interactions. As a corollary, while signals propagated in persistent networks may be ephemeral, networks whose interactions are transient constrain signals diffusing into the cytoplasm to be durable in time, such as post-translational modifications of proteins or second messenger synthesis. The duration and nature of the signals, in turn, implies different mechanisms for the integration of multiple signals and decision making. Evolution then reinvented networks with persistent interactions with the development of nervous systems in metazoans. Ribosomal protein networks and simple nervous systems display architectural and functional analogies whose comparison could suggest scale invariance in information processing. At the molecular level, the significant complexification of eukaryotic ribosomal protein networks is associated with a burst in the acquisition of new conserved aromatic amino acids. Knowing that aromatic residues play a critical role in allosteric receptors and channels, this observation suggests a general role of π systems and their interactions with charged amino acids in multiple signal integration and information processing. We think that these findings may provide the molecular basis for designing future computers with organic processors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youri Timsit
- Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM110, 13288 Marseille, France
- Research Federation for the Study of Global Ocean Systems Ecology and Evolution, FR2022/Tara GOSEE, 3 rue Michel-Ange, 75016 Paris, France
- Correspondence:
| | - Sergeant-Perthuis Grégoire
- Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu—Paris Rive Gauche (IMJ-PRG), UMR 7586, CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, 75013 Paris, France;
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9
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Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms222111311. [PMID: 34768741 PMCID: PMC8582858 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222111311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Bioluminescence, the emission of light catalysed by luciferases, has evolved in many taxa from bacteria to vertebrates and is predominant in the marine environment. It is now well established that in animals possessing a nervous system capable of integrating light stimuli, bioluminescence triggers various behavioural responses and plays a role in intra- or interspecific visual communication. The function of light emission in unicellular organisms is less clear and it is currently thought that it has evolved in an ecological framework, to be perceived by visual animals. For example, while it is thought that bioluminescence allows bacteria to be ingested by zooplankton or fish, providing them with favourable conditions for growth and dispersal, the luminous flashes emitted by dinoflagellates may have evolved as an anti-predation system against copepods. In this short review, we re-examine this paradigm in light of recent findings in microorganism photoreception, signal integration and complex behaviours. Numerous studies show that on the one hand, bacteria and protists, whether autotrophs or heterotrophs, possess a variety of photoreceptors capable of perceiving and integrating light stimuli of different wavelengths. Single-cell light-perception produces responses ranging from phototaxis to more complex behaviours. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that unicellular prokaryotes and eukaryotes can perform complex tasks ranging from habituation and decision-making to associative learning, despite lacking a nervous system. Here, we focus our analysis on two taxa, bacteria and dinoflagellates, whose bioluminescence is well studied. We propose the hypothesis that similar to visual animals, the interplay between light-emission and reception could play multiple roles in intra- and interspecific communication and participate in complex behaviour in the unicellular world.
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10
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Correspondence insights into the role of genes in cell functionality. Comments on "The gene: An appraisal" by K. Baverstock. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2021; 167:152-160. [PMID: 34624359 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2021.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
One of the most important goals of the post-genomic era is to understand the different sources of molecular information that regulate the functional and structural architecture of cells. In this regard, Prof. K. Baverstock underscores in his recent article "The gene: An appraisal" (Baverstock, 2021) that genes are not the leading elements in cellular functionality, inheritance and evolution. As a consequence, the theory of evolution based on the Neo-Darwinian synthesis, is inadequate for today's scientific evidence. Conversely, the author contends that life processes viewed on the basis of thermodynamics, complex system dynamics and self-organization provide a new framework for the foundations of Biology. I consider it necessary to comment on some essential aspects of this relevant work, and here I present a short overview of the main non-genetic sources of biomolecular order and complexity that underline the molecular dynamics and functionality of cells. These sources generate different processes of complexity, which encompasses from the most elementary levels of molecular activity to the emergence of systemic behaviors, and the information necessary to sustain them is not contained in the genome.
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11
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Laruelle A, Manini C, Iñarra E, López JI. Metastasis, an Example of Evolvability. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13153653. [PMID: 34359555 PMCID: PMC8345027 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13153653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Cancer is a complex disease. Modern molecular technologies are progressively unveiling its genetic and epigenetic complexity, but still many key issues remain unknown. Considering cancer as a social dysfunction in a community of individuals has provided new perspectives of analysis with promising results. This narrative considers both approaches with respect to the metastatic process, the final cause of death in most patients affected by this disease. Abstract This overview focuses on two different perspectives to analyze the metastatic process taking clear cell renal cell carcinoma as a model, molecular and ecological. On the one hand, genomic analyses have demonstrated up to seven different constrained routes of tumor evolution and two different metastatic patterns. On the other hand, game theory applied to cell encounters within a tumor provides a sociological perspective of the possible behaviors of individuals (cells) in a collectivity. This combined approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of the complex rules governing a neoplasm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annick Laruelle
- Department of Economic Analysis, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48015 Bilbao, Spain; (A.L.); (E.I.)
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation of Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Claudia Manini
- Department of Pathology, San Giovanni Bosco Hospital, 10154 Turin, Italy;
| | - Elena Iñarra
- Department of Economic Analysis, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48015 Bilbao, Spain; (A.L.); (E.I.)
- Public Economic Institute, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48015 Bilbao, Spain
| | - José I. López
- Department of Pathology, Cruces University Hospital, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Biocruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Correspondence:
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12
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Carrasco-Pujante J, Bringas C, Malaina I, Fedetz M, Martínez L, Pérez-Yarza G, Dolores Boyano M, Berdieva M, Goodkov A, López JI, Knafo S, De la Fuente IM. Associative Conditioning Is a Robust Systemic Behavior in Unicellular Organisms: An Interspecies Comparison. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:707086. [PMID: 34349748 PMCID: PMC8327096 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.707086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The capacity to learn new efficient systemic behavior is a fundamental issue of contemporary biology. We have recently observed, in a preliminary analysis, the emergence of conditioned behavior in some individual amoebae cells. In these experiments, cells were able to acquire new migratory patterns and remember them for long periods of their cellular cycle, forgetting them later on. Here, following a similar conceptual framework of Pavlov's experiments, we have exhaustively studied the migration trajectories of more than 2000 individual cells belonging to three different species: Amoeba proteus, Metamoeba leningradensis, and Amoeba borokensis. Fundamentally, we have analyzed several relevant properties of conditioned cells, such as the intensity of the responses, the directionality persistence, the total distance traveled, the directionality ratio, the average speed, and the persistence times. We have observed that cells belonging to these three species can modify the systemic response to a specific stimulus by associative conditioning. Our main analysis shows that such new behavior is very robust and presents a similar structure of migration patterns in the three species, which was characterized by the presence of conditioning for long periods, remarkable straightness in their trajectories and strong directional persistence. Our experimental and quantitative results, compared with other studies on complex cellular responses in bacteria, protozoa, fungus-like organisms and metazoans that we discus here, allow us to conclude that cellular associative conditioning might be a widespread characteristic of unicellular organisms. This new systemic behavior could be essential to understand some key principles involved in increasing the cellular adaptive fitness to microenvironments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose Carrasco-Pujante
- Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
| | - Carlos Bringas
- Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
| | - Iker Malaina
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
| | - Maria Fedetz
- Department of Cell Biology and Immunology, CSIC, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine “López-Neyra”, Granada, Spain
| | - Luis Martínez
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
- Basque Center of Applied Mathematics, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Gorka Pérez-Yarza
- Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
| | - María Dolores Boyano
- Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
| | - Mariia Berdieva
- Laboratory of Cytology of Unicellular Organisms, Institute of Cytology Russian Academy of Science, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Andrew Goodkov
- Laboratory of Cytology of Unicellular Organisms, Institute of Cytology Russian Academy of Science, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - José I. López
- Department of Pathology, Cruces University Hospital, Biocruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
| | - Shira Knafo
- Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
- Biophysics Institute, CSIC-UPV/EHU, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Ikerbasque - Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Ildefonso M. De la Fuente
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
- Department of Nutrition, CEBAS-CSIC Institute, Espinardo University Campus, Murcia, Spain
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13
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López JI, De la Fuente IM. An Approach to Cell Motility as a Key Mechanism in Oncology. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13143576. [PMID: 34298789 PMCID: PMC8303912 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13143576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- José I. López
- Department of Pathology, Cruces University Hospital, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Biocruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Correspondence: (J.I.L.); (I.M.D.l.F.)
| | - Ildefonso M. De la Fuente
- Department of Nutrition, CEBAS-CSIC Institute, Espinardo University Campus, 30100 Murcia, Spain
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain
- Correspondence: (J.I.L.); (I.M.D.l.F.)
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14
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De la Fuente IM, Martínez L, Carrasco-Pujante J, Fedetz M, López JI, Malaina I. Self-Organization and Information Processing: From Basic Enzymatic Activities to Complex Adaptive Cellular Behavior. Front Genet 2021; 12:644615. [PMID: 34093645 PMCID: PMC8176287 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.644615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the main aims of current biology is to understand the origin of the molecular organization that underlies the complex dynamic architecture of cellular life. Here, we present an overview of the main sources of biomolecular order and complexity spanning from the most elementary levels of molecular activity to the emergence of cellular systemic behaviors. First, we have addressed the dissipative self-organization, the principal source of molecular order in the cell. Intensive studies over the last four decades have demonstrated that self-organization is central to understand enzyme activity under cellular conditions, functional coordination between enzymatic reactions, the emergence of dissipative metabolic networks (DMN), and molecular rhythms. The second fundamental source of order is molecular information processing. Studies on effective connectivity based on transfer entropy (TE) have made possible the quantification in bits of biomolecular information flows in DMN. This information processing enables efficient self-regulatory control of metabolism. As a consequence of both main sources of order, systemic functional structures emerge in the cell; in fact, quantitative analyses with DMN have revealed that the basic units of life display a global enzymatic structure that seems to be an essential characteristic of the systemic functional metabolism. This global metabolic structure has been verified experimentally in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Here, we also discuss how the study of systemic DMN, using Artificial Intelligence and advanced tools of Statistic Mechanics, has shown the emergence of Hopfield-like dynamics characterized by exhibiting associative memory. We have recently confirmed this thesis by testing associative conditioning behavior in individual amoeba cells. In these Pavlovian-like experiments, several hundreds of cells could learn new systemic migratory behaviors and remember them over long periods relative to their cell cycle, forgetting them later. Such associative process seems to correspond to an epigenetic memory. The cellular capacity of learning new adaptive systemic behaviors represents a fundamental evolutionary mechanism for cell adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ildefonso M. De la Fuente
- Department of Nutrition, CEBAS-CSIC Institute, Murcia, Spain
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Leioa, Spain
| | - Luis Martínez
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Leioa, Spain
- Basque Center of Applied Mathematics (BCAM), Bilbao, Spain
| | - Jose Carrasco-Pujante
- Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Leioa, Spain
| | - Maria Fedetz
- Department of Cell Biology and Immunology, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine “López-Neyra”, CSIC, Granada, Spain
| | - José I. López
- Department of Pathology, Cruces University Hospital, Biocruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
| | - Iker Malaina
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Leioa, Spain
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Trewavas A. Awareness and integrated information theory identify plant meristems as sites of conscious activity. PROTOPLASMA 2021; 258:673-679. [PMID: 33745091 PMCID: PMC8052216 DOI: 10.1007/s00709-021-01633-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Lacking an anatomical brain/nervous system, it is assumed plants are not conscious. The biological function of consciousness is an input to behaviour; it is adaptive (subject to selection) and based on information. Complex language makes human consciousness unique. Consciousness is equated to awareness. All organisms are aware of their surroundings, modifying their behaviour to improve survival. Awareness requires assessment too. The mechanisms of animal assessment are neural while molecular and electrical in plants. Awareness of plants being also consciousness may resolve controversy. The integrated information theory (IIT), a leading theory of consciousness, is also blind to brains, nerves and synapses. The integrated information theory indicates plant awareness involves information of two kinds: (1) communicative, extrinsic information as a result of the perception of environmental changes and (2) integrated intrinsic information located in the shoot and root meristems and possibly cambium. The combination of information constructs an information nexus in the meristems leading to assessment and behaviour. The interpretation of integrated information in meristems probably involves the complex networks built around [Ca2+]i that also enable plant learning, memory and intelligent activities. A mature plant contains a large number of conjoined, conscious or aware, meristems possibly unique in the living kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Trewavas
- Institute of Molecular Plant Science, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3JH, Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Calvo P, Baluška F, Trewavas A. Integrated information as a possible basis for plant consciousness. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2020; 564:158-165. [PMID: 33081970 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
It is commonly assumed that plants do not possess consciousness. Since the criterion for this assumption is usually human consciousness this assumption represents a top down attitude. It is obvious that plants are not animals and using animal criteria of consciousness will lead to its rejection in plants. However using a bottom up evolutionary approach and a leading theory of consciousness, Integrated Information Theory, we report that we find evidence that indicates that plant meristems act in a conscious fashion although probably at the level of minimal consciousness. Since many plants contain multiple meristems these observations highlight a very different evolutionary approach to consciousness in biological organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paco Calvo
- Minimal Intelligence Laboratory, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
| | - František Baluška
- Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Anthony Trewavas
- Institute of Molecular Plant Science, Kings Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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De la Fuente IM, López JI. Cell Motility and Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:E2177. [PMID: 32764365 PMCID: PMC7464129 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12082177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell migration is an essential systemic behavior, tightly regulated, of all living cells endowed with directional motility that is involved in the major developmental stages of all complex organisms such as morphogenesis, embryogenesis, organogenesis, adult tissue remodeling, wound healing, immunological cell activities, angiogenesis, tissue repair, cell differentiation, tissue regeneration as well as in a myriad of pathological conditions. However, how cells efficiently regulate their locomotion movements is still unclear. Since migration is also a crucial issue in cancer development, the goal of this narrative is to show the connection between basic findings in cell locomotion of unicellular eukaryotic organisms and the regulatory mechanisms of cell migration necessary for tumor invasion and metastases. More specifically, the review focuses on three main issues, (i) the regulation of the locomotion system in unicellular eukaryotic organisms and human cells, (ii) how the nucleus does not significantly affect the migratory trajectories of cells in two-dimension (2D) surfaces and (iii) the conditioned behavior detected in single cells as a primitive form of learning and adaptation to different contexts during cell migration. New findings in the control of cell motility both in unicellular organisms and mammalian cells open up a new framework in the understanding of the complex processes involved in systemic cellular locomotion and adaptation of a wide spectrum of diseases with high impact in the society such as cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ildefonso M. De la Fuente
- Department of Nutrition, CEBAS-CSIC Institute, Espinardo University Campus, 30100 Murcia, Spain
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain
| | - José I. López
- Department of Pathology, Cruces University Hospital, Biocruces-Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
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