Scientists discover signalling circuit boards inside body's cells "wired like computer chips"
Scientists discover signalling circuit boards inside body's cells
University
of Edinburgh May 24, 2019
Summary:
Cells
in the body are wired like computer chips to direct signals that instruct how
they function, research suggests. Unlike a fixed circuit board, however, cells
can rapidly rewire their communication networks to change their behavior. The
discovery of this cell-wide web turns our understanding of how instructions
spread around a cell on its head.
FULL STORY
Cells in the body are wired like computer chips to direct
signals that instruct how they function, research suggests.
Unlike
a fixed circuit board, however, cells can rapidly rewire their communication
networks to change their behaviour.
The
discovery of this cell-wide web turns our understanding of how instructions
spread around a cell on its head.
It
was thought that the various organs and structures inside a cell float around
in an open sea called the cytoplasm.
Signals
that tell the cell what to do were thought to be transmitted in waves and the
frequency of the waves was the crucial part of the message.
Researchers
at the University of Edinburgh found information is carried across a web of
guide wires that transmit signals across tiny, nanoscale distances.
It
is the movement of charged molecules across these tiny distances that transmit
information, just as in a computer microprocessor, the researchers say.
These
localised signals are responsible for orchestrating the cell's activities, such
as instructing muscle cells to relax or contract.
When
these signals reach the genetic material at the heart of the cell, called the
nucleus, they instruct minute changes in structure that release specific genes
so that they can be expressed.
These
changes in gene expression further alter the behaviour of the cell. When, for
instance, the cell moves from a steady state into a growth phase, the web is
completely reconfigured to transmit signals that switch on the genes needed for
growth.
Researchers
say understanding the code that controls this wiring system could help
understand diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and cancer, and could one
day open up new treatment opportunities.
The
team made their discovery by studying the movement of charged calcium molecules
inside cells, which are the key messages that carry instructions inside cells.
Using
high-powered microscopes, they were able to observe the wiring network with the
help of computing techniques similar to those that enabled the first ever image
of a black hole to be obtained.
Scientists
say their findings are an example of quantum biology -- an emerging field that
uses quantum mechanics and theoretical chemistry to solve biological problems.
The
study, published in Nature Communications,
was funded by the British Heart Foundation.
Professor
Mark Evans, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Discovery Brain
Sciences, said: "We found that cell function is coordinated by a network
of nanotubes, similar to the carbon nanotubes you find in a computer
microprocessor.
"The
most striking thing is that this circuit is highly flexible, as this cell-wide
web can rapidly reconfigure to deliver different outputs in a manner determined
by the information received by and relayed from the nucleus. This is something
no human-made microprocessors or circuit boards are yet capable of
achieving."
Story
Source:
Materials provided by University of Edinburgh. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.
Journal
Reference:
1.
Jingxian Duan, Jorge Navarro-Dorado, Jill H. Clark, Nicholas P.
Kinnear, Peter Meinke, Eric C. Schirmer, A. Mark Evans. The cell-wide web coordinates cellular
processes by directing site-specific Ca2 flux across cytoplasmic nanocourses. Nature Communications, 2019; 10 (1)
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10055-w
Cite
This Page:
University of Edinburgh.
"Scientists discover signalling circuit boards inside body's cells."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 May 2019.
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